Atlantics

"Ocean is more ancient than the mountains, and freighted with the memories and dreams of Time."
-H.P. Lovecraft

Construction is everywhere in the opening shots of Atlantics, directed and co-written by Mati Diop, taking place on the coast of Dakar, Senegal. To the left, there are numerous buildings that appear as if they will never be finished; to the right is a futuristic-looking, prodigious tower that looks like something out of Dubai or Manama. There are plenty of cows wondering around, as well. The tower seems omnipresent, or at least the consequences of its construction are. There is the ocean, of the natural world, and the tower, man-made; both are potent and destructive forces in this tale, which won the Grand Prix at last year's Cannes Film Festival. In the first scene of Atlantics, there are also exhausted, frustrated men working in unbearable conditions building this tower without pay for three months.

Diop has discussed in interviews that this is a story of a generation of lost youth. "Times are tough," one character says here. She's right. Senegal's average monthly salary is about $100. A young man from the West African country was quoted in Reuters as saying, "The only thing we know is migration. Migration equals success." Thousands of Senegalese would agree with this, as thousands have fled for Europe. Many have failed. One of the workers in this story who has been without pay and thus must migrate is Souleiman (Ibrahima Traoré). He is in a relationship with Ada (first-time actress Mame Bineta Sané), but Ada is to wed Omar (Babacar Sylla), a wealthy businessman from a pious family. (Ada's parents are traditionalists, too, and they surely would not be happy if Ada were to dishonor them by leaving Omar for Souleiman.) "God is testing you," Ada is warned by a friend. "He put Soulemain in your path."

Ada discovers that Souleiman and some of the other men who have not been paid have decided to take the risky voyage from Senegal to Spain in hopes of finding work. Ada's story is wed to this subplot, a supernatural addition late into the film revolving around the new tower, its rich owner, and the men he's refused to pay and who have fled to Spain. But even if audiences might come away with these moments stuck with them, it's Ada's story that really drives this film. She goes through with the wedding, despite how miserable she knows the marriage will make her, but a fire starts and all events start to unravel in a most mysterious fashion. The police get involved, as it is very unclear as to how the fire was started, and this is where the film decides to be unlike most you've ever seen.

Soon it becomes apparent to the viewer that this will not be the story of Souleman but of Ada. That's the first of many turns this film takes, not simply in plot but in genre. It starts as a romantic tale of a cute young couple in which the woman is to be wed to a man she does not love. Then it becomes a mystery, then a drama, with a dash of horror and magic realism, all the while commenting on the troubles Senegalese people face; its "eat the rich" mentality puts it in good company with some of last year's most talked-about films, such as Joker, Hustlers, Parasite, and Knives Out. The topics Diop and her team seem to be commenting on, at least to me, are toxic masculinity, cultural conservatism, and capitalism.

Aside from Diop's fantastic storytelling skills, one particularly praiseworthy element of Atlantics is the score by Fatima Al Qadiri. Al Qadiri, a Kuwaiti musician based in Germany, is a member of the group Future Brown, and this is her first score for a full-length feature film; its eeriness might remind some of the music in Stranger Things. When Ada finally marries Omar, it is Al Qadiri's music that adds to the unsettledness. Fine, too, are the cinematography of Claire Mathon (who also shot Portrait of a Lady On Fire) and the cast, most of them non-actors. The most noteworthy is Sane, who was discovered by Diop walking down the street. Her natural performance is reminiscent of similar films, like Whale Rider, Wadjda, and Roma. She is able to convey a clear message with only her eyes, and she helps give Ada increasing agency as the film progresses, even as others stand in her way.

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(Most Of) The 2020 Oscar-Nominated Films Ranked

It would be difficult, dare I say impossible, to argue that 2019 was a great year for movies. But whether I like it or not, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences trudges on with a variety of nominations. Most are, at the very least, sufficient; some (or perhaps many) are frustrating.

Much ink has already been spilled over the disappointment that the Academy, despite giving more consideration to international features in less-discussed categories, has continued to select a nearly all-white list of nominees for the acting categories. As they have done in the past, the Academy has nervously tried to shift the blame to Hollywood, pleading with those who are angry that if only Hollywood would produce more diverse content featuring more diverse talent, they would gladly reward them. But while Hollywood still has a way to go (people of color are still underrepresented on every industry employment front), there have been notable improvements. Numerous US and international films starred actors that could have easily been nominated this year, such as Samantha Mugatsia, Sheila Munyiva, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Taika Waititi, Jennifer Lopez, Eddie Murphy, Awkwafina, Zhao Shu-zhen, Song Kang-ho, Ana de Armas, and Lupita Nyong'o. None of them were nominated. Instead, Cynthia Erivo is the sole person of color among the nominees. Additionally, despite possible nominations for directors Greta Gerwig, Lulu Wang, and Lorene Scafaria, all the nominees for Best Director are men.

Most of the films on the list below tell stories of straight white men, as has been the history of films rewarded at the Oscars. The Academy needs to do better. I agree with April Reign, who coined #OscarsSoWhite and who wrote in Variety, "I believe in meritocracy; cast a wide net, nominate the most talented and qualified individuals, and the best person should win. But if you aren't viewing the films, then you cannot be sure that you have actually seen the most talented and qualified."

Of the films that are nominated, some of them are certainly ones you ought to see. I'd say that I highly recommend the top fifteen or so. With that rant aside, here is my ranking of (most of) the 2020 Oscar-nominated films:

(Note: I have not seen Ford v Ferrari, Bombshell, Richard Jewell, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Frozen II, Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl), St. Louis Superman, Corpus Christi, Les Misérables, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Breakthrough, Daughter, Sister, A Sister, or Saria.)

38. Ad Astra
Best Sound Mixing (Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson, Mark Ulano)

I fell asleep watching Ad Astra on a plane, and I have no intention of finishing it.

37. I Lost My Body
Best Animated Feature (Jérémy Clapin, Marc du Pontavice)

This traditionally drawn French film is very...French. Proudly philosophical and not for young children, it might prove to be frustrating to many audience members. The animation is beautiful, but the film itself is overly dull and bleak.

36. The Lion King
Best Visual Effects (Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones, Elliot Newman)

What works really well in The Lion King, the latest remake in Disney's money-hungry quest to re-imagine all of their animated classics, is what works really well in the original 1994, and it is simply copied and spat out here. But that, of course, is why these remakes are so frustrating. It's like a big cheat by a company that, in these cases at least, seems primarily concerned with money and less so with art. True, the art is there. Its Oscar-nominated effects are spectacular, and some of the voice talent (among them Chiwetel Ejiofor, Donald Glover, John Oliver, and others) do a good job, but it feels like an uninspired carbon copy, one that you will likely forget 30 seconds after finishing it.

35. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Best Supporting Actor (Tom Hanks)

Tom Hanks plays Mr. Rogers (because of course he does), but the more interesting performance is Matthew Rhys as a cynical journalist essentially representing the audience. If you want a Mr. Rogers experience, you should instead view or revisit Won't You Be My Neighbor?, the documentary about him and the best film of 2018. There's only an ounce of the same magic in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, a movie almost unbelievably hoaky.

34. Judy
Best Actress (Renée Zellweger)

Judy, featuring the comeback performance of Renée Zellweger in the title role of Judy Garland, is a standard biographical film. Zellweger really carries the film, as there's virtually nothing else memorable in it. Her performance, which will likely win her her second Oscar, is an imitation without feeling like an imitation. But the ending of the film featuring Judy's final performance of her tour is both the best and worst moment of the movie, and totally eye-rollable.

33. Missing Link
Best Animated Feature (Chris Butler, Arianne Sutner, Travis Knight)

There's a lot to like about this stop-motion animated film by Laika, the company that brought us Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings. The cast (which includes Hugh Jackman, Zach Galifianakis, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Fry, Timothy Olyphant, and Emma Thompson) is great, the animation is majestic, and the story is adventurous. And yet...I don't know. It just didn't speak to me. Critics often say that kids may enjoy "kids movies" but that adults who should know better have a responsibility to introduce their children to better films. Missing Link is probably in the latter, but yeah, it just wasn't for me.

32. Klaus
Best Animated Feature (Sergio Pablos, Jinko Gotoh, Marisa Román)

An animated film meant to be a slightly more realistic version of who Santa is and how he came to be, Klaus features a voice cast that includes Jason Schwartzman, J.K. Simmons, Rashida Jones, Norm Macdonald, and Joan Cusack. It has more heart than Missing Link, and it's traditional animation in an era of computer-generated dominance is refreshing. (I don't think a few years ago, people would have predicted that a stop-motion film and one that is traditionally drawn would be the front-runners over two CGI animated films, especially one from Pixar and one from Disney Animated Studios.) Still, my thoughts are similar to Missing Link: Klaus is positive and commendable art, namely for children, but it wasn't for me.

31. Avengers: End Game
Best Visual Effects (Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken, Dan Sudick) 

There were moments in this tediously long blockbuster that I did enjoy, namely the climatic battle and the showdown between Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Thanos (Josh Brolin). But most of these Marvel Cinematic Universe movies run on way too long, and this movie, at three hours in length, is no exception. Virtually every character who ever appeared in these movies shows up yet again here, and it makes it feel even more taxing than it should. I wish they had simply stopped at Avengers: Infinity War.

30. Jojo Rabbit
Best Picture (Carthew Neal, Taika Waititi, Chelsea Winstanley), Best Supporting Actress (Scarlett Johansson), Best Adapted Screenplay (Waititi), Best Production Design (Ra Vincent, Nora Sopková), Best Costume Design (Mayes C. Rubeo), Best Film Editing (Tom Eagles)

The strongest parts of Jojo Rabbit are the performances of the young actors (Roman Griffith Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, and Archie Yates) and the comedic performance of the writer and director Taika Waititi as young Jojo's imaginary friend, who also happens to be a very childish Adolf Hitler. The weakest parts of the film are everything else, from the weird adaption of the source material and most of the other adult actors. 

29. Joker
Best Picture (Bradley Cooper, Todd Phillips, Emma Tillinger Koskoff), Best Director (Phillips), Best Adapted Screenplay (Phillips, Scott Silver), Best Actor (Joaquin Phoenix), Best Cinematography (Lawrence Sher), Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Nicki Ledermann, Kay Georgiou), Best Costume Design (Mark Bridges), Best Editing (Jeff Groth), Best Score (Hildur Gudnadóttir), Best Sound Editing (Alan Robert Murray), Best Sound Mixing (Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic, Tod Maitland)

Joker is the movie that I have, for better or worse, thought the most about throughout the year. Who can blame me? It has the most Oscar nominations this year and was probably the most talked about and debated film of last year. After having watched most of it again a second time, my views are unchanged: I liked parts of it, namely the performances and different elements such as the score, production design, and cinematography. Still, my main beef with the film is that it is a comic book movie that kind of smugly thinks it's too good to be one. But I will say this: I don't agree that the movie is "divisive", as some have said. Phoenix is fantastic, the movie made a ton of money, most critics like it, and it has the most Oscar nominations. Divisive it is not.

28. The Neighbor's Window 
Best Short Film (Live Action) (Marshall Curry)

The Neighbor's Window stars Maria Dizzia and Greg Keller as a married couple and parents of three young children. Their lives have become sort of predictable, boring, and not as exciting and meaningful as when they were younger. Soon, they start noticing the late-night activities of their younger neighbors across the street, and they become envious while trying to avoid admitting it. It's an interesting, if forgettable, short piece, and Dizzia is quite good.

27. Walk Run Cha-Cha
Best Documentary Short (Laura Nix, Colette Sandstedt)

Walk Run Cha-Cha is a short documentary directed by Laura Nix and distributed by The New York Times about a Vietnamese-American community and their love of passionate dance. It focuses on a husband and wife whose delightful dance (even if it is set to the Carpenters) serves as the best moment. It's an intimate, low-stakes story whose un-ostentatious simplicity may not be for everyone, but those who like dance, immigrant stories, and tales of every-day people should check it out.

26. Kitbull 
Best Short Film (Animated) (Rosana Sullivan, Kathryn Hendrickson)

The traditionally animated Pixar short is about the adorable blossoming friendship between a stray kitten and a dog being raised to fight. Available on Disney+ and YouTube, audiences of all ages would likely be moved by it, especially as the two characters start to trust each other and become pals. It's not Pixar's most unforgettable work, but it's not bad, either.

25. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Best Score (John Williams), Best Sound Editing (Matthew Wood, David Acord), Best Visual Effects (Roger Guyett, Neal Scanlan, Patrick Tubach, Dominic Tuohy)

Critics were a little too harsh on this final installment of the Skywalker saga. (It is the second-lowest rated film on Rotten Tomatoes of all the nominees.) It is true that this is the least imaginative Star Wars film ever, and it kind of wobbles its way through a long slog before getting to a more engaging final act. Some of the nominations are unnecessary. (I like John Williams music as much as the next human being, but it seemed like all of the music was recycled from previous films.) Still, it is a fun movie, more or less, one that I will likely watch again.

24. Pain and Glory
Best Actor (Antonio Banderas), Best International Feature

Pain and Glory stars Antonio Banderas as a writer and director in Spain, and it's written and directed by Pedro Almodovar (so it's a bit autobiographical). The film will require a large bucket of patience, but fortunately it gets better as it progresses. Most people should be moved by at least one scene or another in the film, and this is all the more likely due to Banderas' really compelling performance, his finest ever, one that is a masterclass in conveying fulfilled messages with few or no words.

23. Hair Love
Best Short Film (Animated) (Matthew A. Cherry)

Hair Love is the most talked-about animated short of the year, namely because of the emotional tone of the film and the fact that there has been yet another incident of a school telling a Black student to cut their natural hair. (The Texas student, Deandre Arnold, who was told he would not be able to walk at graduation unless he cut his dreadlocks, has been invited to the Oscars by the Hair Love team.) Thus, Hair Love is a vitally important movie for our times in which young Black people are being directly and indirectly told to be ashamed of their natural hair.

22. In the Absence 
Best Documentary Short (Yi Seung-Jun, Gary Byung-Seok Kam)

In the Absence is a powerful documentary about the sinking of the Sewol ferry that killed over 300 people, most of them children on a school trip. The film pays particular attention to the government's mishandling of the response to the accident. (Korea's president, Park Geun-hye, was eventually impeached on charges related to influence peddling, and in Korea, they have this funny thing where if you're impeached, you're removed from office.) Its difficult subject matter might make it unwatchable for some, but it's available for free on YouTube and is worth the watch.

21. Life Overtakes Me
Best Documentary Short (John Haptas, Kristine Samuelson)

Depicting refugee children in Sweden suffering from Resignation Syndrome, which apparently is not as common outside of Sweden, Life Overtakes Me is an important film that you owe yourself to see. Like In the Absence, Life Overtakes Me can be difficult to watch, especially as parents try their best to treat their young children in a coma-like state. But it will stay with you.

20. Harriet
Best Actress (Cynthia Erivo), Best Song ("Stand Up") (Joshua Brian Campbell, Erivo)

The best parts of Harriet are that it's a biographical film of one of the most important Americans in history (though some seem to disagree) and the performance of Cynthia Erivo, which is astounding. But it is frustrating that in such an important film, so many liberties are taken, namely the fact that many of these characters and situations are made up, simply because Hollywood is Hollywood. The industry should trust audiences enough to know a good story without throwing in such creations.

19. Mémorable
Best Short Film (Animated) (Bruno Collet, Jean-François le Carre)

Hair Love might be the one that wins, but Memorable from France is the best animated short film nominated. About an artist suffering from dementia and his wife taking care of him, this stop-motion effects film is the most captivating of the five nominees.

18. Brotherhood
Best Short Film (Live Action) (Meryam Joobeur, Maria Gracia Turgeon)

Shot in rural Tunisia, the story of an oldest son returning from the fight in Syria with his new wife while facing the suspicion and anger of his father is a film that will stay with you. Despite it being a short film, it is a patient one, as well, calmly taking its time and not revealing many of its cards even as it approaches its conclusion. You will likely be greatly intrigued from start to finish.

17. Nefta Football Club 
Best Short Film (Live Action) (Yves Piat, Damien Megherbi)

My favorite of the short films and also from Tunisia, this is about two young brothers who find a drug mule and decide to improvise. (At least the older brother does; the younger brother often complicates things.) This is a drama but there are plenty of humorous moments sprinkled throughout the film that really work.

16. The Edge of Democracy 
Best Documentary (Petra Costa, Joanna Natasegara, Shane Boris, Tiago Pavan)

The Brazilian documentary The Edge of Democracy is directed and narrated by Petra Costa and details Brazil's decade-long shift from Lula to Dilma to Bolsonaro. American viewers might find it difficult keeping track of this house-of-cards cast of characters, but they will surely react to much of what is depicted. Conservatives and liberals will view the same events depicted in this film and come away with different conclusions. While Costa's narration (available both in Portuguese and English) can sometimes be slightly distracting, her documentary definitely presents its case in a convincing manner.

15. For Sama
Best Documentary (Waad Al-Kateab, Edward Waats)

For Sama, filmed and narrated by Waad Al-Kateab, feels like Hearts and Minds meets Dear Zachary. It is a harrowing documentary about the tragedy of Aleppo as Syrian and Russian forces bomb the city and hospital in which Waad's husband works and where she shoots much of her footage. While some viewers may have conflicted feelings about the motivations of Waad and her husband to stay in Aleppo, her brave journalism is incredibly admirable and skillful. The scene in the hospital involving a newborn baby through caesarian section is unforgettable.

14. The Cave
Best Documentary (Ferras Fayyad, Kristine Barfod, Sigrid Dyekjaer)

"No one can imagine the things we have seen." This is what Amani, the doctor at the focus of the film, states at one point in The Cave, utterly exhausted after desperately trying to save patients in impossible situations as the war in Syria rages on. It has obvious similarities to For Sama, namely that it focuses on women trying to improve the desperate conditions in war-torn Syria; most of the scenes in both films, additionally, are shot in hospitals. So as with For Sama, if it is too difficult seeing children and other patients suffering from the effects of war (and in this case, the effects of chemical attacks), then both films might be too challenging for you. For several reasons, namely the way the documentarians really connect us with these medical professionals, I think The Cave is a slightly better documentary than For Sama.

13. The Two Popes
Best Actor (Jonathan Pryce), Best Supporting Actor (Anthony Hopkins)

Directed by Fernando Meirelles, the Netflix film The Two Popes works best if one can suspend one's disbelief enough. The conversations between then-Cardinal Bergoglio (and now Pope Francis), played by Jonathan Pryce, and Pope Benedict XVI, played by Anthony Hopkins, are bogus but thought-provoking. Some viewers will either be delighted or irritated in the film's treatment of Benedict; it didn't impact me in any particular way. But I really enjoyed these two performances, especially Hopkins, and I'm happy that Pryce has finally been nominated for an Oscar. If it weren't the year of Brad Pitt and his charm offensive, the Oscar could have very likely gone to Hopkins.  

12. Rocketman 
Best Original Song ("I'm Gonna Love Me Again") (Elton John, Bernie Taupin)

It's impossible not to compare Rocketman to Bohemian Rhapsody because of all the similarities, but when one views it in that light, Rocketman becomes more enjoyable. Taron Egerton as Elton John and providing his own singing is quite good, and it's a shame he wasn't nominated. (Did Leonardo DiCaprio really need yet another Oscar nomination?) As a big Elton John fan, I'm rooting for him to win. "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" is not his best (or even among his fifty best), but it's more or less a fun song. I'm especially happy for his lyricist, Bernie Taupin, who has until now not received many awards. Indeed, their Golden Globe win in January was the first award they won together.

11. Toy Story 4
Best Animated Feature (Josh Cooley, Mark Nielsen, Jonas Rivera), Best Song ("I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away") (Randy Newman)

Toy Story 4, as everyone has said ad nauseam, is the least necessary Pixar film ever. But it is still rather enjoyable. In addition to the themes of finding one's purpose and fighting the terror of non-existence, it has never stopped being a delight to hear the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts et al as well as those joining the cast, like Christina Hendricks and especially Keanu Reeves as Duke Caboom in his best year ever. Toy Story 4 is the best animated film of 2019, though it is unlikely to win that prize.     

10. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Best Picture (David Heyman, Quentin Tarantino, Shannon McIntosh), Best Director (Tarantino), Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), Best Supporting Actor (Brad Pitt), Best Original Screenplay (Tarantino), Best Cinematography (Robert Richardson), Best Costume Design (Arianne Phillips), Best Production Design (Barbara Ling, Nancy Haigh), Best Sound Mixing (Christian P. Minkler, Michael Minkler, Mark Ulano), Best Sound Editing (Wylie Stateman)

Quentin Tarantino's love letter to Hollywood feels a little bloated and features a schismatic ending, but if you have liked Tarantino's other films, particularly Jackie Brown, you will probably like this one (and root for it to win Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor, which it is favored to win). The best parts of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood are the performances of its stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, who work perfectly together. Pitt will likely win his second Oscar and first for acting. (He won for producing 12 Years a Slave.)

9. 1917
Best Picture (Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris, Jayne-Ann Tenggren, Callum McDougal), Best Director (Mendes), Best Original Screenplay (Mendes, Krysty Wilson-Cairns), Best Score (Thomas Newman), Best Cinematography (Roger Deakins), Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Naomi Donne, Tristan Versluis, Rebecca Cole), Best Production Designer (Dennis Gassner, Lee Sandales), Best Sound Editing (Oliver Tarney, Rachael Tate), Best Sound Mixing (Mark Taylor, Stuart Wilson), Best Visual Effects (Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler, Dominic Tuohy)

The World War I thriller 1917 possesses production value and direction that will leave you in awe. This film will most likely sweep the Oscars; it will most certainly win most of its nominations in the technical categories and most likely will take home the biggest prize, as well. (The only thing that could possibly stop it is the Academy's usage of ranked-choice voting, which may help an underdog like Parasite). As a film, it is mostly good and surprisingly tense, particularly the almost unbelievable obstacles these two British solders have to go through in order to get a vital message to another unit.

8. American Factory
Best Documentary (Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert, Jeff Reichert)

A documentary about a Chinese company purchasing an American factory that had shut down and the immense difficulty in navigating two very different work cultures to make the project work, I especially liked American Factory because it takes place in Ohio (where I grew up) and China (where I lived for nine months). While the second half of the documentary is considerably less interesting than the first half, it remains a strong contender for the Oscar. Part of voters' motivations could be because it is distributed by Higher Ground Productions, the film company of the Obamas, and the Academy might be aching to annoy the easily annoyable Donald Trump.

7. The Irishman
Best Picture (Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, Emma Tillinger Koskoff), Best Director (Scorsese), Best Supporting Actor (Al Pacino), Best Supporting Actor (Joe Pesci), Best Adapted Screenplay (Steve Zaillian), Best Production Design (Bob Shaw, Regina Graves), Best Cinematography (Rodrigo Prieto), Best Costume Design (Sandy Powell, Christopher Peterson), Best Film Editing (Thelma Schoonmaker), Best Visual Effects (Pablo Helman, Leandro Estebecorena, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser, Stephane Grabli)

The Irishman, which should have kept the source material name (I Heard You Paint Houses), is the movie event everyone was waiting for. Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro's first collaboration on a full-length film in almost twenty-five years, the first pairing of Scorsese and Al Pacino (and the fourth film featuring both De Niro and Pacino), and the first live-action film with Joe Pecsi in nearly a decade, The Irishman turned out to be...good. Well, pretty good. There were some legitimate complains about the de-aging effects and the lack of women on screen, but it is still a highly recommendable film, an American epic.

6. Parasite
Best Picture (Kwak Sin-ae, Bong Joon-ho), Best Director (Bong), Best Original Screenplay (Bong, Han Jin-won), Best International Feature, Best Production Design (Lee Ha-jun, Cho Won-woo), Best Film Editing (Yang Jin-mo)

Parasite is among the most successful films in director Bong Joon-ho's accomplished career. Like many films by Bong, Parasite, about two very different families, changes course rapidly. It's mainly a dark drama mixed with black humor and a dash of horror, with one scene giving me (I think) a nightmare. But the most unforgettable scene is the climatic birthday party, perhaps the best sequence of any of these films. The acting from its cast has been widely acclaimed, with the group winning Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the Screen Actors Guild Awards last month (the first non-English movie to do so).

5. Marriage Story
Best Picture (Noah Baumbach, David Heyman), Best Actor (Adam Driver), Best Actress (Scarlett Johansson), Best Supporting Actress (Laura Dern), Best Original Screenplay (Baumbach), Best Score (Randy Newman)

Marriage Story features probably the best performances I've seen of Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, and Laura Dern, who will likely win for Best Supporting Actress. Other than Driver's big, random musical number at the end, the other scenes that are the most engaging feature the lawyers, particularly Alan Alda's kind, fatherly portrayal and the epic courtroom battle between Ray Liotta and Dern. Additionally, Baumbach's screenplay is great and Randy Newman's score is delightful. (His cousin Thomas is also nominated in the same category for 1917.)

4. The Lighthouse
Best Cinematography (Jarin Blaschke)

The Lighthouse, the second film directed by Robert Eggers, features some of the same DNA as his previous film, The Witch, and its Oscar-nominated cinematography might remind you of eerie films from the 1960s, like The Ghost Ship, for example. That being said, The Lighthouse is quite unlike any other film before it. About two suspicious lighthouse keepers (played by Robert Pattinson and a brilliant performance by Willem Dafoe), The Lighthouse is bizarre, funny, chilling, confusing, allegorical, frustrating, and indelible.

3. Honeyland
Best Documentary (Ljubomir Stefanov, Tamara Kotevska, Atanas Georgiev), Best International Feature 

The only film in history to have been nominated for both Best Documentary and Best International Feature, Honeyland, about a beekeeper, her elderly mother, and their nomadic neighbors in rural Macedonia almost feels like it's not a documentary. Honeyland trusts its viewers to empathize with the subjects and understand their situations and struggles. The film decides not to take the easy way out for its non-Macedonian audience members; indeed, we only find out it's from Macedonia when we hear that country being mentioned on a radio the subjects are listening to.

2. Knives Out
Best Original Screenplay (Rian Johnson)

Knives Out is just about the most fun you could have out of any of these movies. If you have even an ounce of fondness for Clue, Murder She Wrote, or any Agatha Christie novel, this entertaining whodunnit is a must-see. Rian Johnson, who also directed the film, deserves a lot of credit for the writing, but this category is basically a horse race between Parasite and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. With an all-star cast that includes Ana De Armas, Daniel Craig, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Chris Evans, Toni Collette, Christopher Plummer, and Frank Oz, Knives Out is good, old-fashioned fun.

1. Little Women
Best Picture (Amy Pascal), Best Actress (Saoirse Ronan), Best Supporting Actress (Florence Pugh), Best Adapted Screenplay (Greta Gerwig), Best Original Score (Alexandre Desplat), Best Costume Design (Jacqueline Durran)

There are virtually no flaws in Little Women, the adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's classic book written for the screen and directed by Greta Gerwig. The cast, including Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet, Meryl Streep, and others, is stupendous, and while Dern is great in Marriage Story, I would have preferred if she had been nominated for this film. She's absolutely amazing in it. There is so much joy exuding from this film, with such pleasant, wonderful moments; I enjoyed it from start to finish. It is certainly the best film of all those nominated this year; it is the best film of the year.

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