When I interviewed John David Washington about “BlackKklansman,” he told me his dream was a film of “The Taming of the Shrew.” His new film, “Malcolm and Marie” could be an audition for that project and based on the results, someone should cast him and his co-star Zendaya right this minute and start filming it tomorrow.

There’s a lot wrong or maybe it is more accurate to say missing in “Malcolm and Marie,” but given the way it was made, it is remarkable how much is right and it is never less than watchable thanks to the palpable magnetism and chemistry of its two stars, who make up the entire cast. This was a pandemic project, made by writer/director Sam Levinson, as he and Zendaya were on hiatus from their “Euphoria” series due to COVID-19 restrictions. So, this film preserves the classical unities of time and space and action, not as a tribute to Aristotle’s Poetics but as a way to keep everyone safe. The cast and crew quarantined together and the entire film takes place in real time during one late evening in one beautiful beach house. It is filmed in gorgeous black and white by Marcell Rév. And it has a script that could have used a couple more drafts.

Malcolm (Washington) and Marie (Zendaya) come home from a big, glittery event in very different moods, so different that they do not at first notice what is happening with each other. Malcolm is proud, happy, relieved, and excited. He pours himself a drink, cranks up the music, starts to dance, and asks Marie to make some mac and cheese.

Marie boils the water and cuts the butter, but she is quiet, reflective, possibly seething underneath.

Malcolm is an up-and-coming film director and they have just come from the premiere of his latest, the story of a young woman struggling with drug addiction. The premiere was a triumph, the kind that may have moved him from up-and-coming to arrived. Following the screening, he was complimented by everyone, even “the white lady critic from the LA Times.” He is delighted with the reaction, but it stings that her compliment compared him to directors like Spike Lee and Barry Jenkins, all Black filmmakers, and not to, say, William Wyler, a white director from the 1940s and 50s. Marie is feeling left out, partly for reasons we will discover, but initially because in his speech at the reception, he thanked a lot of people, including the star of the film, but did not thank her. He apologized in the car on the way home, but it still bothers her.

The rest of the film is up and down and back and forth as they argue, make up, argue, make up, argue, and possibly make up again. There are elements of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” as their arguments strip away the boundaries enduring couples are careful to protect, but in this case there is no bewildered, meek, and tipsy other couple to perform for; there is just us. Washington and Zendaya are never less than utterly present, utterly vulnerable, and utterly in control of the constantly shifting moods, challenging and matching each other in every beat as characters and as performers. It is a wonder to watch.

And it is impossible not to be sympathetic to the movie’s failures because they are the faults of daring too much, when too many movies fail for the opposite reason. “Malcolm and Marie” tries to bring a lot into the world of these two people in two hours, with issues of race and culture and the relationship of the critic to the artist and who gets credit for what and when and probably also what art is for in the first place. A lot a lot a lot, all from two people talking. It is unlikely that it would have been made this way without the restrictions of a pandemic, including the claustrophobia of the entire crew quarantining together. What other conditions could create this work? How else could we explore these issues in this way? Think of other movies about two people talking. “My Dinner with Andre” was constructed, with everyone going home after a day of shooting, and “Before Sunrise” and “Columbus” had whole cities to explore.

“Malcolm and Marie” may end up as a footnote in what are sure to be long and rich careers for the filmmakers. But it is well worth seeing as an example of what can be done when it seems like nothing is possible, indeed what can be inspired by a moment that seems stuck. I came away hoping the characters go on together and looking forward to whatever Washington and Zendaya do next.

Parents should know that this movie includes very strong language, explicit sexual references and situations, tense confrontations, and discussions of drug addiction.

Family questions: Do your sympathies shift back and forth over the course of the movie? When? Why?

If you like this, try: “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” and “My Dinner with Andre” as well as other films from Washington and Zendaya and the works of William Wyler

The Golden GLobes get a lot of attention because they have a big, glittery award show, but their nominations are not always consistent with the choices of critics and industry groups. They are decided by a small group of international journalists living in Los Angeles. This year’s nominees reflect our pandemic viewing, with streaming services getting the majority of nods, Netflix with 22 and Amazon with 7. They have been criticized already for overlooking outstanding Black performers and for some quirky choices like “Music,” and Jared Leto in “The Little Things.” The best news about the Golden Globes is that the show will be hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. It won’t be the same without the chance to see the biggest stars of Hollywood and television getting tipsy during the broadcast, but it will still be a lot of fun.

MOTION PICTURES
BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

THE FATHER (Trademark Films; Sony Pictures Classics)

MANK (Netflix; Netflix)

NOMADLAND (Highwayman / Hear/Say / Cor Cordium; Searchlight Pictures)

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN (LuckyChap Entertainment / FilmNation Entertainment; Focus Features)

THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 (Marc Platt Productions / Dreamworks Pictures; Netflix)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

VIOLA DAVIS
MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM

ANDRA DAY
THE UNITED STATES VS. BILLIE HOLIDAY

VANESSA KIRBY
PIECES OF A WOMAN

FRANCES MCDORMAND
NOMADLAND

CAREY MULLIGAN
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

RIZ AHMED
SOUND OF METAL

CHADWICK BOSEMAN
MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM

ANTHONY HOPKINS
THE FATHER

GARY OLDMAN
MANK

TAHAR RAHIM
THE MAURITANIAN

BEST MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM
(Four By Two Films; Amazon Studios)

HAMILTON
(Walt Disney Pictures / RadicalMedia / 5000 Broadway Productions / NEVIS Productions / Old 320 Sycamore Pictures; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

MUSIC
(Pineapple Lasagne Productions / Landay Entertainment; Vertical Entertainment / IMAX)

PALM SPRINGS
(Party Over Here / Limelight Productions; NEON / Hulu)

THE PROM
(Netflix / Dramatic Forces / Storykey Entertainment; Netflix)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

MARIA BAKALOVA
BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM

KATE HUDSON
MUSIC

MICHELLE PFEIFFER
FRENCH EXIT

ROSAMUND PIKE
I CARE A LOT

ANYA TAYLOR-JOY
EMMA

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

SACHA BARON COHEN
BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM

JAMES CORDEN
THE PROM

LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA
HAMILTON

DEV PATEL
THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD

ANDY SAMBERG
PALM SPRINGS

BEST MOTION PICTURE – ANIMATED

THE CROODS: A NEW AGE
(DreamWorks Animation; Universal Pictures)

ONWARD
(Walt Disney Pictures / Pixar Animation Studios; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

OVER THE MOON
(Netflix / Pearl Studio / Glen Keane Productions; Netflix)

SOUL
(Walt Disney Pictures / Pixar Animation Studios; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

WOLFWALKERS
(Cartoon Saloon / Melusine; Apple / GKIDS)

BEST MOTION PICTURE – FOREIGN LANGUAGE

ANOTHER ROUND (DENMARK)
(Zentropa Entertainments; Samuel Goldwyn Films)

LA LLORONA (GUATEMALA / FRANCE)
(La Casa de Producción / Les Films du Volcan; Shudder)

THE LIFE AHEAD (ITALY)
(Palomar; Netflix)

MINARI (USA)
(Plan B; A24)

TWO OF US (FRANCE / USA)
(Paprika Films; Magnolia Pictures)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE

GLENN CLOSE
HILLBILLY ELEGY

OLIVIA COLMAN
THE FATHER

JODIE FOSTER
THE MAURITANIAN

AMANDA SEYFRIED
MANK

HELENA ZENGEL
NEWS OF THE WORLD

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE

SACHA BARON COHEN
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7

DANIEL KALUUYA
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH

JARED LETO
THE LITTLE THINGS

BILL MURRAY
ON THE ROCKS

LESLIE ODOM JR
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE

EMERALD FENNELL
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

DAVID FINCHER
MANK

REGINA KING
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI

AARON SORKIN
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7

CHLOÉ ZHAO
NOMADLAND

BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE

EMERALD FENNELL
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

JACK FINCHER
MANK

AARON SORKIN
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7

FLORIAN ZELLER, CHRISTOPHER HAMPTON
THE FATHER

CHLOÉ ZHAO
NOMADLAND

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE

ALEXANDRE DESPLAT
THE MIDNIGHT SKY

LUDWIG GÖRANSSON
TENET

JAMES NEWTON HOWARD
NEWS OF THE WORLD

TRENT REZNOR, ATTICUS ROSS
MANK

TRENT REZNOR, ATTICUS ROSS, JON BATISTE
SOUL

BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE

“FIGHT FOR YOU” — JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
Music by: H.E.R., Dernst Emile II
Lyrics by: H.E.R., Tiara Thomas

“HEAR MY VOICE” — THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
Music by: Daniel Pemberton
Lyrics by: Daniel Pemberton, Celeste Waite

“IO SÌ (SEEN)” — THE LIFE AHEAD
Music by: Diane Warren
Lyrics by: Diane Warren, Laura Pausini, Niccolò Agliardi

“SPEAK NOW” — ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
Music by: Leslie Odom Jr, Sam Ashworth
Lyrics by:vLeslie Odom Jr, Sam Ashworth

“TIGRESS & TWEED” — THE UNITED STATES VS. BILLIE HOLIDAY
Music by: Andra Day, Raphael Saadiq
Lyrics by:vAndra Day, Raphael Saadiq

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA

THE CROWN – NETFLIX
(Left Bank Pictures / Sony Pictures Television)

LOVECRAFT COUNTRY – HBO
(HBO / Afemme / Monkeypaw / Bad Robot / Warner Bros. Television)

THE MANDALORIAN – DISNEY+
(Lucasfilm Ltd.)

OZARK – NETFLIX
(MRC Television)

RATCHED – NETFLIX
(Fox21 Television Studios)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA

OLIVIA COLMAN
THE CROWN

JODIE COMER
KILLING EVE

EMMA CORRIN
THE CROWN

LAURA LINNEY
OZARK

SARAH PAULSON
RATCHED

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA

JASON BATEMAN
OZARK

JOSH O’CONNOR
THE CROWN

BOB ODENKIRK
BETTER CALL SAUL

AL PACINO
HUNTERS

MATTHEW RHYS
PERRY MASON

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

EMILY IN PARIS – NETFLIX
(Darren Star Productions / Jax Media / MTV Studios)

THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT – HBO MAX
(HBO Max / Berlanti Productions / Yes, Norman Productions / Warner Bros. Television)

THE GREAT – HULU
(Hulu / Civic Center Media / MRC)

SCHITT’S CREEK – POP TV
(Not A Real Company Productions / Canadian Broadcast Company / Pop TV)

TED LASSO – APPLE TV+
(Apple / Doozer Productions / Warner Bros. Television / Universal Television)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

LILY COLLINS
EMILY IN PARIS

KALEY CUOCO
THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT

ELLE FANNING
THE GREAT

JANE LEVY
ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST

CATHERINE O’HARA
SCHITT’S CREEK

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

DON CHEADLE
BLACK MONDAY

NICHOLAS HOULT
THE GREAT

EUGENE LEVY
SCHITT’S CREEK

JASON SUDEIKIS
TED LASSO

RAMY YOUSSEF
RAMY

BEST TELEVISION LIMITED SERIES, ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

NORMAL PEOPLE – HULU
(Hulu / BBC / Element Pictures)

THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT – NETFLIX
(Netflix)

SMALL AXE – AMAZON STUDIOS
(BBC Studios Americas, Inc / Amazon Studios)

THE UNDOING – HBO
(HBO / Made Up Stories / Blossom Films/David E. Kelley Productions)

UNORTHODOX – NETFLIX
(Studio Airlift / RealFilm)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES, ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

CATE BLANCHETT
MRS. AMERICA

DAISY EDGAR-JONES
NORMAL PEOPLE

SHIRA HAAS
UNORTHODOX

NICOLE KIDMAN
THE UNDOING

ANYA TAYLOR-JOY
THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES, ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

BRYAN CRANSTON
YOUR HONOR

JEFF DANIELS
THE COMEY RULE

HUGH GRANT
THE UNDOING

ETHAN HAWKE
THE GOOD LORD BIRD

MARK RUFFALO
I KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SUPPORTING ROLE

GILLIAN ANDERSON
THE CROWN

HELENA BONHAM CARTER
THE CROWN

JULIA GARNER
OZARK

ANNIE MURPHY
SCHITT’S CREEK

CYNTHIA NIXON
RATCHED

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SUPPORTING ROLE

JOHN BOYEGA
SMALL AXE

BRENDAN GLEESON
THE COMEY RULE

DANIEL LEVY
SCHITT’S CREEK

JIM PARSONS
HOLLYWOOD

DONALD SUTHERLAND
THE UNDOING

A lot of thought goes into weddings, but very little of it focuses on one of the promises couples make, the one about “in sickness and in health.” And yet those of us who are lucky enough to share our lives with the ones we love for decades will face a time when one has to care for the other. In “Supernova,” Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci play a longtime devoted couple who are facing one of the most painful losses of all. One of them has been diagnosed with dementia.

Firth plays Sam, classical pianist, and Tucci is Tusker, a successful novelist. Asleep, they tenderly embrace. Awake, they amiably bicker and banter as they embark on a road trip in a well-traveled camper.

Sam is clearly the more serious of the two, with Tusker more sardonic and a bit of a tease. Writer/director Harry Macqueen understands the rhythms, stresses, and enduring pleasures of a long-term relationship. And Firth beautifully portrays the way Sam worries, worries about revealing that he is worrying, all the time relishing his time with Tusker all the more because he knows there will be less of Tusker every day.

The trip itself is about memory as they visit places and people that have meant the most to them. And as we understand better the strain they are under, their connections and conversations take on deeper meanings. Looking out at a magnificent view that many couples have found romantic Tusker asks what wish Sam would make. Sam says something many couple have said in that same spot. He wishes this vacation could go on forever. But what he means is that he wants to freeze this moment. Tusker, even impaired, knows Sam well enough to respond to the subtext: “So can you tell that it’s gotten worse?”

The trip takes them backwards and forward. They relive some of their past, through recollection, stops at meaningful locations, and encounters with people who have been important to them for a long time. And then obliquely and then more explicitly they look ahead as they consider their options and priorities. Tusker will become more dependent but, most terrifying for both of them, he will become less himself.

How much deference do you give to someone you love deeply when his judgement may be severely diminished? How much deference do you give to someone you love when he wants to care for you — and you don’t want to be cared for, you want both of you to be spared what will inevitably be (literally) horrible?

Macqueen has a light touch with the bigger picture hinted at in the movie’s title. His palpable sympathy for both men and for the complexity of the decisions they are making and the subtle, sympathetic performances from Firth and Tucci make this film a quiet gem, true to the characters and their love story.

Parents should know that the themes of this movie including memory loss and suicide and characters use very strong language.

Family discussion: Do you agree with Tuskar’s decision? How should Sam respond?

If you like this, try: “Still Mine,” “Away From Her,” “The Leisure Seeker,” “Blackbird,” and “I Remember Better When I Paint”

I can’t say for sure but to the best of my recollection in the history of the Academy Awards, only one presenter had the presence of mind to bring — a letter opener. That was Cloris Leachman, the year after she won her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. While she is usually remembered today for her comedic roles, her Oscar was for a heartbreaking dramatic portrayal of vulnerability in “The Last Picture Show.”

Few people recognized her from her brief role as a cheerful prostitute in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” Or as “Lassie’s Mom” in one season of the television series about the boy and his collie or a reliable guest star on 1950s and 60s television series, including “Lancer,” the one featured in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”

But when she appeared as Phyllis Lindstrom, the very proper neighbor/landlady on “The Mary Tyler Moore” show, she became an instant household name, ultimately getting her own spin-off series.

The opening credits spoofed “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and any theme song that extolled the irresistibility of its star.

Leachman appeared in just about every form of entertainment, most recently providing the voice of the grandmother in “The Croods” and last year’s sequel. She was also known for being quirky, outspoken, and something of a hippie back in the day.

Cloris Leachman and my mother were in the same dorm at Northwestern University freshman year, until Cloris dropped out, and they stayed friends. My mother loved to tell us how Cloris got out of an exam by tearfully telling the professor about her boyfriend who had just been killed in WWII. (He wasn’t killed, in fact he didn’t exist.) Mom says she was a very believable actress even then.

In the 1970s, when my father was asked to give the graduation speech at Northwestern, he told the students that his roommate at the school was the journalist Sandor Vanocur and my mother’s was Cloris Leachman. “If only we were students now,” he said with mock regret. “I could have had Cloris Leachman as my roommate and my wife could have roomed with Sandy Vanocur.” This was considered rather racy and daring back in those days when many schools still had parietal rules limiting visitors of the opposite sex, and the idea of mixed-gender dorms was just beginning to be considered.

Cloris Leachman heard about the speech and wrote to my father. “I am deeply insulted!” she wrote. “How dare you suggest that I would have roomed with you at Northwestern! I would have roomed with Sandy Vanocur!”

May her memory be a blessing.

Three Oscar winners cannot save “The Little Things,” a crime thriller that starts out promisingly and about halfway through completely loses its way. It’s almost like the screenplay was created by two different people, or undermined by the director. But John Lee Hancock (“The Blind Side,” “Saving Mr. Banks,” “The Highwaymen”), both wrote and directed, so he is responsible when the story veers into Gothika Rule territory.

It takes place in 1990, and we begin with a pretty young woman driving on the highway and singing along to the Go-Gos as a sinister motorist behind her makes her uncomfortable and then terrified. The first half sets up two mysteries. The first is the realization that the young woman who has been murdered is the victim of a serial killer, expanding and making more urgent the search to find the one responsible. The detective in charge is Jim Baxter (Rami Malek), who takes the job very seriously, even personally. “We work for her,” he says about the dead woman.

A lower-level officer named Deke Deacon (Denzel Washington) has been sent to Baxter’s police station to pick up some evidence. The second mystery is why the people there are (mostly) so hostile to him and why a clearly experienced, capable, and dedicated has not risen in rank. “And they say Black guys never return to the scene of the crime,” another detective says with acid in his voice. But the forensic pathologist seems more sympathetic, agreeing to spend some time with him when a delay in making the evidence available keeps him there overnight.

There’s “something like it up north,” Deke says, and soon he and Baxter are beginning to work together to find the killer. “Things probably changed a lot since you left,” says Baxter. “Still gotta catch ’em? Then nothing has really changed that much,” Deke says.

So far, so good. As long as Deke and Baxter are behaving like intelligent, dedicated professionals, the movie holds our interest as a police procedural with intriguing characters. But then Jared Leto enters the picture as suspect Albert Sparma and it all begins to fall apart. Baxter seems to have an inexplicable change of personality with a decision so monumentally stupid and contrary to day one of any kind of law enforcement training not to mention basic common sense that it takes us out of the story.

Meanwhile, what we learn about Deke’s past is not as meaningful as the movie clearly thinks it is, making the story’s primary mystery secondary to the point of almost inconsequential. Washington’s is the only performance that continues to hold our attention as Leto hits one creepy note and stays there and Malek is unable to overcome his character’s inconsistency. More important, the swerve in tone undermines the film’s aspirations for moral complexity. The title of the film refers to the little things that are important to get right, whether you are a killer trying to evade justice or law enforcement trying to achieve it. In the case of this movie, the little things are all right but the big thing, the screenplay, is a mess.

Parents should know that this movie is about a serial killer and it has some grisly and graphic images and strong language.

Family discussion: Why did Deke send the package to Baxter? How was that decision tied to his own experience? Why did Flo keep the memento on her keychain?

If you like this, try: “Inside Man” and “Silence of the Lambs”