I just finished watching all 10 Best Picture nominees from last March’s Academy Awards. My best recommendation if you are considering such a feat: don’t. Okay, six of the ten are worth watching. However, overall, they fall well short of Best Picture quality. It’s probably helpful to mention here that one of the many majors I pursued as an undergraduate was theatre. Also, I am not a prude and was not turned off by those that focused on sexual themes; it was how poorly they did so.
In case you'd like to watch some of them, here is my ranking and evaluation.
1. Conclave
Conclave is a thriller set against the backdrop of the secluded corridors of the Vatican as cardinals gather to choose a new pope. This is the only nominated movie of Best Picture caliber. The acting from the ensemble is excellent, and the cinematography is top-notch, often producing beautiful visuals. It was a nuanced approach to political and spiritual themes, in what may be described as a haunting study in power and faith. However, unless those are topics of interest, you may find it a bit plodding and tedious at times. It does have a surprising and suspenseful ending, which I will not spoil here.
2. Wicked
Wicked re-imagines the best-selling Broadway musical, giving a fresh voice to the witches of Oz. With lavish sets, epic musical numbers, and fiery performances, Wicked bewitched old and new fans alike. It was beloved for its hip vitality, humor, and themes of friendship and inclusion. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Wicked; it’s just, in my estimation, not a Best Picture. However, it is pure fun and worth watching.
3. Nickel Boys
Inspired by the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Nickel Boys exposes the horrors of a segregated reform school in the South and the lifelong bonds formed there. What sets the movie apart is its grim authenticity and riveting performances. The filmmaker took the bold step of telling the story from a first-person perspective, in other words, through the eyes of the characters. And the plural in that last sentence is part of the problem. Whose eyes we were seeing through changed throughout the movie, making it very confusing. The story was so compelling that it did not need this gimmick. It could have been in the running for my Best Picture if it had been told more conventionally.
4. A Complete Unknown
A Complete Unknown is a “mythical rocker biopic” of Bob Dylan. The film straddles the boundary between fact and fable in a compelling examination of the musician’s evolution and his cultural impact. The acting, including the singing, is strong, and the controversy surrounding Dylan’s transition to electric music is brought to life.
5. Dune Part Two
I have never read any of the Dune series, nor have I liked any of the previous film versions. However, I loved Dune Part One with the brooding, reluctant prophet. There is nothing wrong with Part Two, and I enjoyed it, but it was too focused on the battles. While the character conflicts, both internal and external, were still present, they did not seem as compelling as in the previous movie. Still, it was a grand saga with superb spectacles.
6. I’m Still Here
I’m Still Here is a compelling political drama of how a wife and mother goes on with life in the face of her husband being “disappeared” by a brutal military dictatorship in Brazil during the 1970s. The film adopts a low-key approach and is brilliantly acted by Best Actress nominee Fernanda Torres, who plays the central character. It was a heartfelt treatment of difficult material. For me, though, it loses much of its power because it is a foreign language film that requires reading subtitles.
This film is a mind-bending sci-fi horror story about a substance that allows a person to become a younger version of themselves every other week. The transition creates two bodies, and it is during this process that the graphic horror, in the nude, repeatedly occurs. The film poses profound questions, including those about our acceptance of aging and the nature of the self. However, a horror approach, combined with the tone of “camp,” does not work, despite its philosophical pondering.
8. Emelia Perez
Emilia Perez is a genre-smashing crime thriller about a cartel kingpin transitioning to a woman and disappearing from the life of crime. Several years later, she seeks to reconnect with her children and find redemption. It’s a French film in Spanish that’s a musical. What could go wrong? Having thugs, and of course others, suddenly burst into song was jarring and distracting from the story line. While well-acted, this was not the vehicle to tell a transgender story empathetically.
9. The Brutalist
I do not know what to make of this film. The Brutalist is the tale of a highly talented and holocaust surviving immigrant architect in post-World War II America whose unyielding vision clashes with a world yearning for conformity. The acting is outstanding by Best Actor winner Adrien Brody and Best Actress nominee Felicity Jones. However, the story is convoluted and taxing. I think its most significant mistake is that it sought to be an epic and was 3 ½ hours long. I wonder what it could have been if 2 hours of it had found its way to the cutting room floor. As it is, it was a slog to make it through.
10. Anora
I have no idea how this film won the Academy Award for Best Picture. It is terrible. Many critics point out that the film gave a realistic picture of the lives of sex workers. However, the creators used that to include several unneeded gratuitous sex scenes. I also have no complaints about the lead actress, Mickey Madison, winning the Best Actress award. There is also fine acting by Best Supporting Actor nominee Yura Borisov in the character of Igor. The movie, on the other hand, is cartoonish. The rest of the characters, the acting, and the story line of the son of a Russian oligarch falling for a strip club dancer would hardly pass in a sitcom.
