Most of the controversy over this year's ceremony, however, is due to the Academy's bone-headed decision to cut the live presentations of eight categories (documentary short, editing, makeup and hairstyling, score, production design, animated short, live action short, and sound) in a desperate move to try and improve their diminishing viewer numbers. (They apparently, though, feel that while there is not enough time to show all twenty-three categories, there is plenty of time to feature a performance of a certain annoying song that isn't even nominated.) If the Academy and ABC decided that this bizarre decision was a just one in order to raise their viewing ratings, then the only decent thing to do would be to give them a dose of unintended consequences and not watch the actual show.
Beyond that, there inevitably were films that shocked everyone with their lack of nominations (namely Passing), and there were others that I thoroughly enjoyed but were somehow not nominated, such as arguably the best film of 2021: the documentary The Rescue about the Tham Luang cave rescue in 2018, directed by Oscar winners Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chen. How the film was not nominated is a giant mystery to me, although it does continue the Academy's run of not nominating documentaries that people actually see and like, such as Won't You Be My Neighbor? and Hoop Dreams. Some of my other favorite films of last year, including Riders of Justice, Old Henry, and Bo Burnham: Inside, were nowhere to be seen on the list of nominees.
That being said, the Oscars are the Oscars, and they have in some ways continued to inch their way towards presenting those who are interested with a wider range of stories and films from around the world which they otherwise would likely never have heard of. Of all fifty-three nominees, some are good, some are bad, some are overrated, some are surprisingly great, and some are just what we needed. Here is my ranking of all fifty-three nominees for the 2022 Academy Awards:
53. Don't Look Up
Film Editing (Hank Corwin), Original Score (Nicholas Britell), Original Screenplay (Adam McKay, David Sirota), Best Picture (Adam McKay, Kevin Messick)
Goodness, how do this guy's movies keep getting nominated? Oscar-winner Adam McKay often aims for low-hanging fruit; in this case, it's an exhausting amount of targets, like the U.S. government and cable news and social media and the public's obsession with celebrities and a host of others. Yet he fails miserably, mainly because Don't Look Up is not nearly as clever as it or any of its supporters think it is. McKay used to write for Saturday Night Live, and yet there's not a single funny moment in this "satire," and with all the statuettes between its A-list stars that include Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Tyler Perry, Mark Rylance, and Cate Blanchett, one would hope for something better. But much like McKay's previous Oscar-nominated dud (the Dick Cheney biographical flick Vice), Don't Look Up is overhyped, knackered baloney that thinks of itself as an intellectual masterpiece.
52. Coming 2 America
Makeup and Hairstyling (Mike Marino, Stacey Morris, Carla Farmer)
Everyone is happy that Eddie Murphy has had a comeback these past few years. But unlike his Emmy-winning triumphant return to Saturday Night Live just over two years ago, in which fresh updates made famous characters like Mr. Robinson and Velvet Jones not simply nostalgic fan service but intriguing mockery, Coming 2 America, another sequel to an 80s flick no one wanted, is dreadfully awkward and painfully unfunny. Despite the gang all being back again, it is disappointing yet not surprising that this was apparently the best that could be done. Like its predecessor, the film is nominated for its makeup design (the first one lost to Beetlejuice), but the way it looks (all caked on the actors) is as old-fashioned as the undoubtedly archaic jokes.
51. Free Guy
Visual Effects (Swen Gillberg, Bryan Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis, Dan Sudick)
About halfway through Free Guy, Millie (the character played by Jodie Comer) tells Guy (Ryan Reynolds) that he's funny. Guy is surprised, and answers simply by asking, "I am?" Reynolds has been funny before in an eclectic career that includes The Proposal and the Deadpool movies, but there is nothing funny about his performance here in this flick about an NPC named Guy who suddenly goes through a Groundhog Day-like experience of self-actualization. Taika Waititi as a wicked CEO or Joe Keery as a game developer aren't humorous, either. Unfortunately, Free Guy features likely the worst performance by Reynolds, Waititi, and Keery. The visual effects (the film's sole nomination) are neat, and Guy does get to use a lightsaber (right after a certain Avenger shows up), but other than that, there's nothing to like about Free Guy.
50. The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Animated Feature Film (Mike Rianda, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Kurt Albrecht)
An apocalyptic tale of a family (voiced by Abbi Jacobson, Maya Rudolph, Danny McBride, and a very annoying Mike Rianda as the young son) battling it out against the robots that have turned on them (as well as each other because of course it has to have its moments where they learn to love and accept each other again and blah blah blah), this is perhaps the most headache-inducing of all the films on this list (like pretty much anything Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are involved in), and other than Olivia Coleman's turn as a villainous and vengeful mobile phone commanding the robots in the war, there's nothing worthwhile here.
49. The Hand of God
International Feature (Italy)
The Hand of God, at least during the first seventy-five percent of it, is remarkably pointless, absurd, ridiculous, tedious, mean-spirited, and daft. For a country whose previous winners include The Bicycle Thief, 8 1/2, and Cinema Paradiso, it's disappointing that Italy's most recent nominees (this and the dreadfully dull The Great Beauty from 2013) have been so disappointing. The sole bright spot for the film is the noteworthy performances by Filippo Scotti and Luisa Ranieri. After tragedy strikes, the film gets marginally better as the protagonist deals with guilt and struggles to discover his identity, but it's not nearly enough for the film to crawl out of the massive crater it found itself in.
48. Affairs of the Art
Short Film - Animated (Joanna Quinn, Les Mills)
Affairs of the Art, a 2D hand-drawn animated film directed by Joanna Quinn (who is also the film's storyboard artist and lead animator) is very, very odd. I have no criticism towards its animation, which is able to more or less marry realism and fantasy in a welcomingly chaotic way. However, as a story, it's a drag, with constant commentary by their familiar protagonist Beryl (voiced by Menna Trussler), who yabbers non-stop about her unique family, punctuated with copious amounts of animated nudity and violence against animals. (If either of those two are for you, this film might be right up your alley.) This is the fourth Beryl film Quinn and Les Mills have created, and the fourth time might just be the charm for them (though I highly doubt it).
47. The Windshield Wiper
Short Film - Animated (Alberto Mielgo, Leo Sanchez)
Alberto Mielgo's website mentions that The Windshield Wiper is a very "personal and particular vision" about love and relationships. Particular indeed. My dislike for The Windshield Wiper is about the same as my dislike for Affairs of the Art, but whereas Affairs of the Art at least has a plot, no such thing exists here. The animation of The Windshield Wiper, however, is far more fascinating to look at. I just wish I was given more motivation to be invested in it. One cool fact about the film, though, is that it apparently influenced Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, as Mielgo served as a production designer on the film and made The Windshield Wiper while working on it.
46. Cruella
Costume Design (Jenny Beavan)
So now we know why Cruella de Vil hates Dalmatians so much! In any kind of unwanted origin story, studios employ this kind of thing as justification for making these kinds of films, and it's almost always absurd. The vast majority of these remakes or origin stories by Disney have felt so forced and pointless; this one, about the early days of the infamous dog-hating villainess (played here by Emma Stone), is surely one of the most irritating. At any rate, Stone, Emma Thompson, and Paul Walter Hauser certainly commit to their performances with varying results, but Mark Strong just sort of stands there. Finally, there are a lot of great songs in the film's soundtrack, but they don't save the film. In sum: great costumes, great soundtrack, so-so acting, and no justification for existing.
45. House of Gucci
Makeup and Hairstyling (Göran Lundström, Anna Carin Lock, Frederic Aspiras)
Ralph Fiennes, the English actor who was nominated for an Oscar in 1994 for playing a German in Schindler's List (while speaking in a German accent), recently claimed that the era of native English speakers doing non-English accents in English-language movies was over. Ridley Scott and crew appear to disagree with him. In House of Gucci, the accents are...distracting, partly because there's so much inconsistency between the actors. Some of the actors (like star Lady Gaga) at least appear to be trying, while others sound like they are high school students in their senior-year play. The Scott-directed drama of the Gucci empire in turmoil is not a totally uninteresting account, although this cinematic telling of it is yet another two-hour-plus experience that is way too long and way too unnecessary. That being said, Jared Leto is unrecognizable, so perhaps its makeup and hairstyling design will win the film its sole Oscar.
44. Licorice Pizza
Best Picture (Sara Murphy, Adam Somner, Paul Thomas Anderson), Directing (Anderson), Original Screenplay (Anderson)
Licorice Pizza, the newest film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, is certainly the most overrated of the ten Best Picture nominees. (Don't Look Up shouldn't be nominated either, but at least it wasn't a critical hit like Licorice Pizza somehow was.) Licorice Pizza tells the story of a very toxic and creepy romance between a 25-year-old woman played by Alana Haim and a 15-year-old boy played by Cooper Hoffman (whose father, Philip Seymour Hoffman, was a frequent collaborator of Anderson's). The film marks the film debuts of both leads, and they do a pretty decent job (certainly compared to some of the bigger stars who show up), but they are swimming in a mess of dribble that is Anderson's boring, pointless story.
43. The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Actress in a Leading Role (Jessica Chastain), Makeup and Hairstyling (Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram, Justin Raleigh)
Based on the 2000 documentary of the same name (which is probably considerably more interesting, as is this hysterical YouTube video featuring "the best" of Jim Bakker), The Eyes of Tammy Faye depicts the person who is likely the most sympathetic of the notorious 1980s televangelist superstars: Tammy Faye Messner. It's also one of this year's inevitable nominees that depicts a rags-to-riches tale of Americana, whether you asked for it or not. In this case, Jessica Chastaine as Tammy Faye does an impressive job belting out Christian tunes. Other actors in the film also are effective, like Cherry Jones as Tammy's disapproving mother and Vincent D'Onofrio as Jerry Falwell, who disapproves of Tammy's support of gay men suffering from AIDS. Andrew Garfield, though, as Jim Bakker overdoes it (as he often does). Chastain's recent wins at the SAG and Critics Choice awards and the fact that she hasn't won an Oscar yet likely makes her the frontrunner for Actress in a Leading Role.
42. Luca
Animated Feature Film (Enrico Casarosa, Andrea Warren)
I watched Luca, the raved-about Pixar film about an Italian boy sea monster (or something) this past summer, and I remember almost nothing about it. Like many of the films on this list, I really wanted to enjoy Luca a lot more than I did, but for me, 2021 was a disappointing year for animation (for both short films and full-length ones). None of my favorite films of the year were animated, including this coming-of-age crowd pleaser. I am, however, happy for queer people who have responded to the increased representation they've seen in films like The Mitchells vs. the Machines and Luca (even if it's only implied in the latter, and despite Disney head Bob Chapek's cowardly response to Florida's recent homophobic laws).
41. CODA
Best Picture (Philippe Rousselet, Fabrice Gianfermi, Patrick Wachsberger), Adapted Screenplay (Siân Heder), Actor in a Supporting Role (Troy Kotsur)
I really, really wanted to like CODA, the story about a hearing teenage girl (Emilia Jones) who is a child of deaf adults (CODA), especially because of the need to tell more stories like this. Much of my disappointment came from the over-the-top acting. Marlee Matlin (the Oscar-winning actress who also is a producer of the film) as the girl's mother is good, but Troy Kotsur as the father, while providing a very humanist portrayal of a man determined to keep his family fishing business afloat (while simultaneously embarrass his daughter in front of her crush), delivers a performance that often is very annoying. (I guess that's the point, since, like many fathers, he revels in embarrassing his daughter.) But the most vexatious of them all is Eugenio Derbez as the protagonist's music teacher. It is quite possibly the most irritating acting in the whole film and definitely in the top ten worst performances of a teacher.
40. Being the Ricardos
Actress in a Leading Role (Nicole Kidman), Actor in a Leading Role (Javier Bardem), Actor in a Supporting Role (J.K. Simmons)
Predictably, like Judy and a host of films before it, Being the Ricardos features a lot of that boring nonsense nobody wants in a biopic, mainly flashbacks that add nothing, for example. In this case, those flashback scenes include a solid twenty minutes, and even without them the film would be too long and stale. The film, written and directly by Aaron Sorkin, had potential, especially because its opening contained so much of that zazz that people have always (or usually) liked in Sorkin's writing. His script, while employing a few eye-rollable liberties, appears exhaustingly researched, and presents (or reminds) viewers of an oft-forgotten fact of Lucille Ball: that she was one of the many victims of McCarthyism and HUAC's anti-Communist crusade. Despite the film's noble intentions and fine performance by Nicole Kidman as Ball, watching this movie is an experience that will likely inspire you to frequently glance at your watch.
39. Dune
Best Picture (Mary Parent, Denis Villeneuve, Cale Boyter), Production Design (Patrice Vermette, Zsuzsanna Sipos), Sound (Marc Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill, Ron Bartlett), Adapted Screenplay (Joe Spaihts, Villeneuve, Eric Roth), Cinematography (Greig Fraser), Costume Design (Jacqueline West, Robert Morgan), Film Editing (Joe Walker), Makeup and Hairstyling (Donald Mowat, Love Larson, Evan von Bahr), Original Score (Hans Zimmer)
Oh, how I wish I really liked Dune. Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, Dune, the Denis Villeneuve-directed adaptation of Frank Herbert's 1965 science fiction epic, was the first film I was able to see back in the cinema in about two years. With an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score of over eighty percent, a top-notch director, and a stellar cast that includes Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, and others, I was hoping to like it as much as many others did. How disappointed I was. Other than Stellan Skarsgård's frightful, Colonel Kurtz-like appearance as the menacing Baron of House Atreides, Dune felt like a three-hour show-off for the director and crew to demonstrate their visual mastery. Other than that, it's a bust and my least favorite film Villeneuve has directed.
38. Four Good Days
Original Song ("Somehow You Do," by Diane Warren)
I had pretty low expectations for Four Good Days, the drama about a mother and daughter (played by Glenn Close and Mila Kunis, respectively) in their struggle to get Molly (Kunis) through four days of withdrawal hell until she can get a life-saving opioid antagonist shot that will prevent her body from responding to opioids. From one look at the poster, I feared it would be another Hillbilly Elegy, a histrionic bore that feels like it was made for TNT in the late 90s. Four Good Days does feel like that occasionally (though more for Showtime, given the language), especially in its final third, which ultimately prevents the film from being recommendable, despite compelling and believable performances from its two leads. Its sole nomination (for its song) is the thirteenth nomination for Diane Warren, and yet she is (once again) very unlikely to take home the prize.
37. Bestia
Short Film - Animated (Hugo Covarrubias, Tevo Díaz)
An animated short of characters looking like porcelain dolls existing in a tale about a secret police agent in the Chilean military dictatorship of the 1970s, Bestia is an unearthly account, succeeding at visualizing realistic dread in a way often only animation can do. The real-life horror the film depicts is played out in grisly fashion typical of many horror flicks, with scenes of decapitation, nightmares, and murder. Even if the film lacked those components, just watching the protagonist—with her complete lack of verbal communication—would make for an eerie enough experience.
36. Encanto
Animated Feature Film (Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merinno, Clark Spencer), Original Score (Germaine Franco), Original Song ("Dos Oruguitas," by Lin-Manuel Miranda)
Encanto, the first movie from Walt Disney Animation Studios that contains an entirely Latino cast, has probably the best looking animation of the year. Overall, I found the film mostly fine yet forgettable, even with its heavy emphasis on magic and wonder. The "We Don't Talk About Bruno" jokes on the internet got old the second they were completed being typed, but thanks to the film's base—Millenial mothers posting about how much they and their young children play the song—it ended up reaching number one on the Billboard Top 100 Chart. The ending of Encanto is surprisingly abrupt, but at any rate, whether or not I loved the movie is irrelevant. As all the videos parents have released of their children reacting to how the characters look like them have shown, audiences have positively responded to Encanto.
35. The Dress
Short Film - Live Action (Tadeusz Łysiak, Maciej Ślesicki)
The Dress, written and directed by Tadeusz Łysiak, is about a motel cleaning lady struggling with loneliness, and it often feels like a nihilistic experience with scenes that have left some feeling "gutted." Much of this has to do with an issue the film industry has often struggled with: artists who don't have disabilities telling the stories of those who do. Often, the result is harrowing films that only express the negative aspects of different communities' experiences. Despite this fair criticism, the acting (particularly that of Anna Dzieduszycka as Julia, the lead role, and Dorota Pomkala as her friend) is phenomenal.
34. Three Songs for Benazir
Documentary - Short Subject (Pedro Kos, Jon Shenk)
Released just two months before the Taliban took over Afghanistan again, Three Songs for Benzair (directed by Afghanistan-born Gulistan Mirzaei) is another story of the tremendously difficult situations many Afghans face on a day-to-day basis. In this case, it's a young man named Shaista who lives in a camp for displaced people outside of Kabul with his pregnant wife Benazir, whom he often serenades with loving songs. Desperate to find a way out, he pleads with his father to become educated or at least join the army. His father refuses. Given the never-ending tragedy Afghanistan has faced in the past several decades, watching another tale of the struggles of a refugee might not be for everyone, but it does serve as a painful reminder of the Afghanistan people's severely arduous circumstances.
33. Attica
Documentary Feature (Stanley Nelson, Traci A. Curry)
Directed by Traci Curry and Stanley Nelson, Attica chronicles the horrific week fifty years ago involving the largest prison rebellion in U.S. history, the conditions that led to the prison takeover, the tense negotiations over the inmates' demands, and the shocking response by the State of New York. Much of this film, though, is presented via "talking heads," giving it a sometimes unrelieved quality. To be clear, Attica is a powerful documentary, especially in its final scenes as it depicts the massacre by the law enforcement of the 33 inmates and 10 correctional officers and the subsequent abuse towards the inmates. Yet aside from these scenes, often the talking heads aspect of the film, while necessary, makes this documentary the least memorable of the five nominees.
32. tick, tick...Boom!
Actor in a Leading Role (Andrew Garfield), Film Editing (Myron Kerstein, Andrew Weisblum)
It's fair to say that Lin-Manuel Miranda had an exceptional previous year with an wide-ranging amount of projects such as writing songs for Encanto, appearing in a documentary about Rita Moreno, and finally bringing his Tony-winning Broadway musical In the Heights to the big screen. Another accomplishment for him was the adaptation of Jonathan Larson's tick...tick...Boom! This musical, the semi-autobiographical story of a struggling composer in the 1980s, is very Larson-y and very Miranda-y, and depending on who you are, that could be a good thing or a bad thing. For me, it was mostly fine, mainly because of the singing by Andrew Garfield (who also had a great year last year), with the highlight being the show-stopping anthem "Sunday" and all its Broadway star cameos. Other than that, it's not a film that gave me much reason to ever want to revisit it.
31. Robin Robin
Short Film - Animated (Dan Ojari, Mikey Please)
Last year, Netflix won in this category for If Anything Happens I Love You. They will try to win again this year, albeit this time with a much different tone, style, and story. Robin Robin is the tale of a bird (voiced by Bronte Carmichael) who is adopted into a house of mice led by Dad Mouse (Adeel Akhtar), who tries to train her in their familial ways of sneaking about "Who-Man" houses to steal some crumbs. Along the way, she'll befriend a magpie (Richard E. Grant) while trying to survive predators like a villainous cat (Gillian Anderson). The stop-motion clay animation by Aardman Animations (the studio behind Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep) is wonderful, but the story is chaotic, and it by no means should be a musical. The songs in the film often feel like junior productions parents are forced to sit through at their children's elementary schools.
30. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Visual Effects (Christopher Townsend, Joe Farrell, Sean Noel Walker, Dan Oliver)
Shang-Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings is essentially in the mediocre middle of the pack of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films (and of the 2022 Oscar nominees), right in Black Widow and Ant-Man and the Wasp territory. Some of the actors in the mostly Asian cast (like Tony Leung and Awkwafina) are more or less good in the film, but the movie's visual effects (its sole nomination) look comically bad. In this regard, Shang-Chi is no Dr. Strange. In terms of 2021's hero movies, I really, really hated The Suicide Squad and am totally baffled that it's in the top ten of Rotten Tomato's best films of the year. (Shang-Chi is number seventeen.) At the same time, the effects in The Suicide Squad are far superior to those in Shang-Chi, so I'm not sure why Shang-Chi was rewarded while The Suicide Squad was not.
29. No Time to Die
Sound (Simon Hayes, Oliver Tarney, James Harrison, Paul Massey, Mark Taylor), Visual Effects (Charlie Noble, Joel Green, Jonathan Fawkner, Chris Corbould), Original Song ("No Time to Die," by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell)
If 2015's Spectre left me feeling like the Bond franchise was scraping the bottom of the barrel for ideas, 2021's No Time to Die simply confirmed it. Don't get me wrong; No Time to Die is a finer film than its immediate predecessor, and it's not necessarily a bad one. But at two hours and forty-five minutes, it really pushes the limits for an audience member's patience to watch essentially the same basic schtick that has been used twenty-four previous times for the past sixty years. Fortunately, at least Bond, in a post-MeToo world, isn't such a creep in this one, and the Oscar-nominated song by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell (which has also won a Grammy and a host of other awards) has grown on me, so if the Spectre song "Writing's On the Wall" by Sam Smith can win, then so can this.
28. Cyrano
Costume Design (Massimo Cantini Parrini, Jacqueline Durran)
Based on a 2018 musical of the same name (which was based on the 1897 play about the famous French novelist and playwright), Cyrano, directed by Joe Wright, is not a great film, especially as it drags it feet towards its resolution, and the songs are very mediocre. The cast, however, sings them quite well, particularly Peter Dinklage (who should have been nominated for Best Actor), Haley Bennett, and Kelvin Harrison Jr., although Ben Mendelsohn in yet another villainous role sounds the weakest. Even if the film occasionally drags, it does feature an Amadeus-like production and Oscar-nominated costume designs, as well as old-fashioned fun like swashbuckling sword fights and a love-triangle.
27. Boxballet
Short Film - Animated (Anton Dyakov)
In a charming meet-cute tale visualizing the delight of opposites attracting, Boxballet is an animated flick about a rugged boxer and a promising ballerina who fall for each other just as the Soviet Union is about to collapse. With striking animation matching its disposition that features so many opposites juxtaposed on the screen (the animation is simultaneously distorted and delicate, contrasting the prodigious muscles of the boxer with how thin the ballerina is), this film is probably the best animated short of the five nominees. However, partly due to intense anger at Russia for Putin's invasion of Ukraine and partly because it's not on Netflix, the film is less likely to win.
26. Ascension
Documentary Feature (Jessica Kingdon, Kira Simon-Kennedy, Nathan Truesdell)
This documentary directed by Jessica Kingdon (who was inspired to title the film Ascension after discovering the poems of her great-grandfather in Hunan, China) is the story of the Chinese Dream. Kingdon and her team document the incredible (and incredibly) hard work of many Chinese people—as well as their aspirations—in an un-editorialized way that shows us different kinds of work, including textiles, air conditioners, body guarding (I think), hospitality, influencing, and even a sex doll factory, with employees so used to all the naked dolls that there's no blushing, just reminders about what customers ordered and how to make the color of the areola just right. Ascension is often a fascinating documentary, with many non-Chinese audience members likely being captivated by what goes on in everyday work life in China. Yet my biggest qualm with the film is that this was done better several years ago in American Factory.
25. Writing with Fire
Documentary Feature (Rintu Thomas, Sushmit Ghosh)
The Indian documentary Writing With Fire focuses on the Khabar Lahaiya newspaper (a newspaper that is run by an all-female team of reporters, managers, and editors) as it reports on a variety of topics (including violence against women, illegal mining, and the cozy marriage between the ruling BJP and Hindu nationalism) in a country in which journalists face numerous dangers. Much of the film centers not simply on the team's reporting but also on its shift to digital news, which proves difficult for many of them. For journalists and journalism majors, especially as there is one depressing story after another about the the declining influence and relevance of the media (and newspapers in particular), this kind of documentary might offer a bolt of idealistic excitement for what good journalism is capable of doing. And just as Ascension may provide non-Chinese audience members with a glimpse of daily life in modern China, so too can Writing With Fire offer a window into daily life in India.
24. Belfast
Best Picture (Laura Berwick, Kenneth Branagh), Becca Kovacik, Tamar Thomas), Directing (Branagh), Actor in a Supporting Role (Ciarán Hinds), Actress in a Supporting Role (Judi Dench), Original Song ("Down to Joy," by Van Morrison), Sound (Denise Yard, Simon Chase, James Mather, Niv Adiri), Original Screenplay (Branagh)
This semi-autobiographical film about a young boy (played by Jude Hill) growing up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles in the late 1960s is another passion project from cinema's Renaissance man, Kenneth Branagh. Here, he works hard (sometimes too hard) to demonstrate his skill; he surely succeeds at least in that that lovely "Everlasting Love" scene, which is just about the most joyous moment in a year of difficult cinematic imagery. Branagh's script, however, is wobbly, especially as it tries to blend moods and shift seamlessly from one tone to the other, and not always successfully. And while some of the overacting by the children is annoying, he at least was able to get fantastic performances by Caitríona Balfe as the boy's mother and Judi Dench and Ciarán Hinds as the boy's grandparents (both of whom are nominated), and the film's (not nominated) cinematography by Haris Zambarloukos is gorgeous. Branagh has been nominated literally in seven different categories over the past several decades, and now he may just finally get a win.
23. Nightmare Alley
Best Picture (Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale, Bradley Cooper), Production Design (Tamara Deverell, Shane Vieau), Cinematography (Dan Lausten)
When watching the surprise Best Picture nominee Nightmare Alley, the newest psychological thriller directed by Guillermo del Toro, one gets the impression that it's probably a more enjoyable experience to either read the 1946 novel which inspired it or the first adaptation a year later starring Tyrone Power. That being said, its terrific cinematography by Dan Laustsen, production design by Tamara Deverell, and set design by Shane Vieau really draw you in, and its climatic scenes (even if they don't always make a lot of sense) are captivating. And the all-star cast that includes Bradley Cooper (with his ninth Oscar nomination, with this one being his fourth for Best Picture), Rooney Mara, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Richard Jenkins, Willem Dafoe, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen, and David Strathairn help make up for the film when it is otherwise lacking.
22. Flee
Animated Feature Film (Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen, Charlotte De La Gournerie), Documentary Feature (Rasmussen, Hellström, Søensen, De La Gournerie), International Feature (Denmark)
While I was not as enamored with Flee as everyone else was, I recognize that it's a uniquely original combination of documentary and animation. Flee, the Jonas Poher Rasmussen-directed film earning an unprecedented trio of nominations for Animated Feature Film, Documentary Feature, and International Feature, tells the tale of a man named Amir's multi-year journey out of Afghanistan and into Denmark. Many of the film's most powerful moments—the corrupt Russian police abusing the refugee girl or Amir telling his psychiatrist he needs medicine to "cure" him of his attraction to men—will stay with you for a long time. Telling Amir's painful stories in animated form allows the film to explore these moments in a distinctive way that other documentaries likely couldn't. With Flee being unlikely to win either in the Documentary or International categories, its likeliest win is for Animated Feature Film, though it faces stiff competition from Encanto, the more populist choice.
21. When We Were Bullies
Documentary - Short Subject (Jay Rosenblatt)
In an article titled "How We Can End Bullying," Eric Haseltine notes that research backs up his hunch that bystanders "play an enormously important role in the victimization of bullied kids and that getting bystanders to change their behavior could significantly reduce bullying and its many ill effects." Not only that, but when bystanders do intervene, the incidents often stop within ten seconds. In the documentary short When We Were Bullies, Jay Rosenblatt is obsessed with an incident in which he and basically the entire class bullied one of their classmates; the guilt he faces is the impetus for this film that explores the painful reality of childhood bullying. In this case, there were no passive bystanders, but there was a mob of angry, bullying elementary school children. Rosenblatt does an effective job with this very personal and painful story, partly because Jeremy Rourke's animation helps him along the way.
20. The Long Goodbye
Short Film - Live Action (Aneil Karia, Riz Ahmed)
While it's best to know as little as possible about The Long Goodbye before you watch it, you should at least be prepared for a sudden, drastic change in story, plot, and tone, as well as a climax and denouement that will leave many shaken. It will certainly reflect how many feel they are treated in the UK these days (and in the US, for that matter); as one commenter on the film's YouTube page put it, the film visualizes a "growing fear in Boris Britain." The film's star is Riz Ahmed, who has been on a role lately. In addition to his Oscar nomination last year for Sound of Metal, he co-wrote, co-produced, and starred in Mogul Mowgli, which contains a few songs from his album of the same year, also called The Long Goodbye. He is also an executive producer of Flee.
19. Raya and the Last Dragon
Animated Feature (Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, Osnat Shurer, Kurt Albrecht)
Many have noted the satisfaction in seeing a Disney female lead (this one voiced by Kelly Marie Tran) not existing solely to be rescued by a man. In fact, there's no romantic interest at all in Raya and the Last Dragon, an animated fantasy about a heroine trying to return peace and calm to her world, and aside from her father (voiced by Daniel Dae-Kim) and a pre-teen (Izaac Wong) who helps Raya and Sisu (Awkwafina) on their quest, there are hardly any men in the whole thing, which may seem trivial, but for a studio that relied on essentially the same formula from 1938 until at least 1998 (in which a heroine exists to be rescued and/or to fall in love), it's refreshing. Instead of romance or arbitrary musical numbers of finding oneself, we get a lot of action, some of it good and some of it dull.
18. On My Mind
Short Film - Live Action (Martin Strange-Hansen, Kim Magnusson)
On My Mind, a short film from Denmark directed by Martin Strange-Hansen (who won in this category in 2003 for The Charming Man), contains an emotional punch (when we discover why the man Rasmus Hammerich plays so desperately needs to sing the song "Always On My Mind" in a bar despite the sometimes cruel protests of the bar owner) that is a tad predictable and may not be for everyone, with some more realistic (or perhaps cynical) viewers justifiably being unimpressed. That being said, for whatever faults the On My Mind has, the acting by Hammerich, Camilla Bendix, and Ole Gorter Boisen more than make up for them.
17. The Worst Person in the World
International Feature (Noway), Original Screenplay (Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier)
The Worst Person in the World, the third part of "Oslo Trilogy" directed by Joachim Trier, may sometimes be a bit aimless, but it is simultaneously a film that feels like an odyssey, showing us the quirky, trippy, sexy, thoughtful, philosophical, and sometimes fun episodes (twelve of them, actually) of a woman named Julie (played by Renate Reinsve). Reinsve won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, and one could certainly make the case for her to have been nominated at this year's Oscars. Her acting is totally naturalistic. Needless to say, Trier's story and how he films it is so idiosyncratic at times that it might not be for everyone, but it was certainly a favorite of critics.
16. Please Hold
Short Film - Live Action (K.D. Dávila, Levin Menekse)
Please Hold is an unsettling dystopian work of science fiction directed by K.D. Dávila in her directorial debut. The story is about a young Latino man thrown into prison by a drone and only able to communicate with an automated and animated digital assistant who resembles Clippy, Microsoft's defunct Office Assistant who would often smile yet rarely provide actual help. Mateo (the protagonist, played by Erick Lopez) isn't even notified of his charge, which only adds to the frustration the audience feels as Dávila and Omer Levin Meneske's script shines a light on the terribly unfair criminal justice system in the United States, doing so in a way that is as clever as it is engrossing.
15. Spencer
Actress in a Leading Role (Kristen Stewart)
Despite missing out on nominations for SAG and the BAFTAs, Kristen Stewart deservedly has been nominated for playing Princess Diana at the peak of her difficulties with the royal family and with her health problems. The major problem I have with the film is that it's impossible not to compare it to The Crown, which also depicted the struggles of Diana and Prince Charles in the most recent season and will continue to do so in the next one, and Jackie, a similarly themed film directed by Pablo Larraín. Both are superior to Spencer. This is not to suggest that the film is bad, especially because it has a terrific score by Johnny Greenwood and cinematography by Claire Mathon. The show, however, really is Stewart's. It's one of her best performances.
14. The Tragedy of Macbeth
Actor in a Leading Role (Denzel Washington), Cinematography (Bruno Delbonnel), Production Design (Stefan Dechant, Nancy Haigh)
This adaptation directed by Joel Coen (in a rare outing as a solo director without his brother, Ethan) is about the twentieth time the Scottish play has made its way to the screen, but this one (while avoiding major big swings) certainly does its best to stand out from the others. Its cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel and its production design by Stefan Dechant are spectacular, providing a look that is just as much The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari as it is The Seventh Seal; in essence, the aesthetics are everything you've ever imagined Macbeth could be but wasn't (at least not in previous adaptations, like the more banal one from 2015). This eerie mood is augmented by Carter Burwell's score and especially Kathryn Hunter's triumphant performance as the Three Witches; she steals the show from Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, and, frankly, should have been nominated.
13. Ala Kachuu - Take and Run
Short Film - Live Action (Maria Brendle, Nadine Lüchinger)
"A happy marriage begins by crying," goes the controversial Kyrgyz proverb. Many people around the world likely have never heard of the term "ala kachuu" (or "take and run"), the controversial practice of kidnapping brides in Central Asia. The practice is particularly common in Kyrgyzstan, where some estimate as many as 12,000 women are still kidnapped each year and forced into arranged marriages. Written and directed by German-Swiss filmmaker Maria Brendle, the story centers on a young woman named Sezim (Alina Turdumamatova) who is kidnapped and forced to live in a remote village with her kidnapper and his family, without any protest from her mother or father. Like many of the nominated short live action films, Ala Kachu - Take and Run is deeply concerned about justice, and in this case, offers a damning critique of the harm cultural conservatism, religion, and toxic masculinity have on societies.
12. West Side Story
Best Picture (Steven Spielberg, Kristie Macosko Krieger), Directing (Steven Spielberg), Actress in a Supporting Role (Ariana DeBose), Cinematography (Janusz Kaminski), Costume Design (Paul Tazewell), Production Design (Adam Stockhausen, Rena DeAngelo), Sound (Tod A. Maitland, Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson, Shawn Murphy)
If I had never seen the 1961 adaptation of this famous musical, and if it wasn't my high school's musical production my senior year, and if I hadn't heard these famous songs frequently throughout the past twenty or so years, this West Side Story, directed by Steven Spielberg, would probably be one of the best things I've ever seen. But I've seen this story over and over again, and (while I appreciate the fact that there's no brownface like in the original) despite the crisp cinematography and wonderful production design, it's still essentially the same thing. That being said, the music is the music (which means it's still incredible), and the best parts of this movie are predictably the ones that feature that legendary music by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, like the opening rumble, the high school dance, "Tonight" and others. The likeliest win for West Side Story could be for Ariana DeBose's superb performance as Anita. Speaking of Anita, it's also great seeing Rita Moreno excel as she always does.
11. Drive My Car
Best Picture (Yamamoto Teruhisa), Directing (Hamaguchi Ryusuke), International Feature Film (Japan), Adapted Screenplay (Hamaguchi, Oe Takamasa)
Directed by the acclaimed filmmaker Hamaguchi Ryusuke (who also directed Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes the same year), Drive My Car, a multi-faceted story centering on a stage director adapting a multi-lingual production of Uncle Vanya, is as certain to win Best International Feature as Parasite was back in 2020. Since winning a variety of awards at Cannes, Drive My Car, a three-hour slow burner about built-up grief (among many other things), has been the darling of critics. (It was even Barack Obama's favorite film of last year.) While it must be said that Drive My Car is no Parasite, for patient film viewers it offers a compelling lesson on human psychology related to guilt, grief, and the human condition, with lead actor Nishijima Hidetoshi giving the film's best performance.
10. The Lost Daughter
Actress in a Leading Role (Olivia Coleman), Actress in a Supporting Role (Jessie Buckley), Adapted Screenplay (Maggie Gyllenhaal)
The Lost Daughter is further proof that Olivia Coleman can do basically anything in the movies. In terms of her dramatic performances on the big screen, this might be her finest. Dakota Johnson also achieves her best performance yet. A staunchly feministic film offering copious amounts of homage to what many have termed "unnatural mothers," Maggie Gyllenhaal (in her directorial debut) delivers an engaging (if occasionally wearisome) story of Coleman's character, a college professor going through a mid-life crisis while having what can only be described as the vacation from hell in Greece. These scenes are often mesmerizing. But much like Being the Ricardos, The Lost Daughter is plagued with half-a-dozen flashback scenes that, I would argue, hurt the film far more than they help it, and ultimately distract from the movie's better moments, like the ones where Coleman and Johnson shine.
9. The Queen of Basketball
Documentary - Short Subject (Ben Proudfoot)
Like Ben Proudfoot's Oscar-nominated short from last year (A Concerto Is a Conversation), The Queen of Basketball (available for free to watch on the New York Times' official YouTube channel) focuses on a humble supreme talent. In this case, it's basketball legend Lusia Harris, the first woman basketball player to score in the 1976 Olympic Games—which was the first time women's basketball was played in an Olympics game—and the first women to be drafted by the NBA (which she declined). Despite her enormous accomplishments, Harris (who passed away earlier this year at age 66) has largely been forgotten. This documentary tries to remedy that, and Proudfoot's direction is effective in that aim. Whether or not he wins for his efforts is yet to be seen.
8. Audible
Documentary - Short Feature (Matt Ogens, Geoff McLean)
Audible is a documentary about members of Maryland School for the Deaf's football and cheering team's final football games before graduating as they deal with the aftermath of their close friend's death. (The film's title is also a clever play on words, as the word is used both to describe the perception of sound as well as a tactic used by quarterbacks in football.) There's a lot that viewers will likely react positively to when viewing it: high school memories (particularly if they involve sports), crushes and first love, being looked down on, grief, and uncertainty about one's future. It would be wrong to claim its emotions are universal, as most of the audience is likely hearing people who will never know what it's like to be deaf. That being said, many people will be able to relate to the experiences of these high schoolers.
7. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
Documentary Feature (Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent, David Dinerstein)
If you're a fan of good music, you'll really be into Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised). The fan favorite of documentaries from last year since it debuted at Sundance (winning the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the documentary category), this documentary, directed by Questlove, centers on the previously underreported 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. Featuring interviews that include Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, and a number of other performers and attendees, it will prove difficult not to find yourself bopping your head along as you watch and listen to songs like "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In," "To Be Young, Gifted and Black," and countless others.
6. Parallel Mothers
Actress in a Leading Role (Penélope Cruz), Original Score (Alberto Iglesias)
This film, the newest written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, features two of the best performances of the year: the spectacular Penélope Cruz (in her seventh film with Almodóvar) and Milena Smit as two very different mothers who share a hospital room when their babies are born. What transpires through the remaining parts of the film feels familiar (Chuck Bowen compared Almodóvar's writing and directing to that of Sirk's and Hitchcock's) yet thrilling at the same time. Cruz is fantastic, and if I were a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, I would vote for her (or Olivia Coleman) in this category, though she is unlikely to win. (She did win thirteen years ago, though, for Vicky Cristina Barcelona.) Tragically, Smit is not nominated despite being just as good.
5. Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom
International Feature Film (Bhutan)
Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, which is Bhutan's first film to be nominated for an Oscar, is not without its issues. At least in the first half, it's a little predictable, and the movie possesses soft propaganda as characters note the country's famous qualities of happiness, while one child says her dream is to serve the king. Despite this, it's a remarkably gratifying film that one cannot help but be enamored with. About a stubborn teacher sent to the world's most isolated school up in the mountains, this film features some of the most gorgeous scenery you've ever seen, the kind that could inspire you to travel and perhaps even go on a similar journey. This movie is also successful due to its naturalistic acting, such as that of Sherab Dorji as the teacher, Kunzang Wangdi as the village's leader, and Pem Zam as the class's captain. (She and the other children are played by Lunana locals.) On a final note, one reason I think I enjoyed Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom is because it brought back many pleasant memories of my time as a teacher in a rural village in Georgia (the one in Europe).
4. Lead Me Home
Documentary - Short Subject (Pedro Kos, Jon Shenk)
Lead Me Home is the most heartbreaking film on this list, and it is also the most infuriating. Directed by Pedro Kos and Jon Shenk, this documentary puts the scourge of homelessness directly in the viewer's face in a situation in which the audience must recognize the unfortunate reality of the problem in a country with such enormous wealth. We've heard all the reasons—cuts to HUD, high unemployment, bloated military spending, the Great Recession, COVID-19, etc. Some of these are mentioned in the documentary. And yet, it is still there, the problem most of us would rather pretend wasn't. Kos and Shenk's ability to remind viewers of this absurdity is impeccable; their juxtaposition of houseless people with sped-up images of modern US metropolises shows their filmmaking style is just as much Koyaanisqatsi as it is Roger and Me. Because of the emotional charge as well as the use of sound and score in both Lead Me Home and Audible (and the fact that they're both on Netflix, meaning more Academy members have access to them), they are likely the frontrunners in this category.
3. The Power of the Dog
Best Picture (Jane Campion, Tanya Seghatchian, Emile Sherman, Iain Canning, Roger Frappier), Production Design (Grant Major, Amber Richards), Sound (Richard Flynn, Robert Mackenzie, Tara Webb), Writing (Adapted Screenplay) (Campion), Actor in a Leading Role (Benedict Cumberbatch), Actor in a Supporting Role (Jessie Plemons), Actor in a Supporting Role (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Actress in a Supporting Role (Kirsten Dunst), Cinematography (Ari Wegner), Directing (Campion), Film Editing (Peter Sciberras), Original Score (Johnny Greenwood)
The Power of the Dog may be the vehicle in which Jane Campion finally gets an Oscar, and it might also be the first Western to win Best Picture since No Country For Old Men in 2008. North American accents usually aren't Benedict Cumberbatch's strong suit, but his towering performance as a toxic cattle rancher bullying his brother (Jesse Plemons), his new sister-in-law (Kirsten Dunst), and her son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is a stand-out performance in this superb quartet. Dunst's performance, in particular, and the way she can so easily get the audience on her side is an example of how she is a master of acting. (Surprisingly, this is her first Oscar nomination in her thirty-year career.) And that mesmerizing, practically perfect score by Johnny Greenwood should and will stay with you for quite a long time.
2. King Richard
Best Picture (Tim White, Trevor White, Will Smith), Actor in a Leading Role (Smith), Actress in a Supporting Role (Aunjanue Ellis), Film Editing (Pamela Martin), Original Song ("Be Alive," by DIXSON and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter), Original Screenplay (Zach Baylin)
King Richard is a film (for whatever reason—perhaps because I don't like tennis, or perhaps because I'm not the biggest fan of biographical films) I had low expectations for, and yet I came away from it being thrilled that I had seen one of the best films of the year. Will Smith as Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena Williams, who has often been depicted unfairly (at least according to the film) throughout his daughters' rises to becoming the world's top tennis stars, is his best so far. It's been a while since he's been given such a project worthy of his acting talents, and it's also been a long time he's been this interesting to watch. True, the hero-worship of King Richard is awkward, and it often feels like it's the Williams sisters' ultimate love-letter to the father they surely credit with their success and also feel has been mistreated by the public and media for decades. Still, it's as moving a film as there has been recently, and Smith has earned his status as the frontrunner. If I were a member of the Academy, I would vote for this for Best Picture. It's one of the best films of the year.
1. Spider-Man: No Way Home
Visual Effects (Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein, Dan Sudick)
I expected to moderately like the latest movie about your friend neighborhood Spider-Man, but given the rocky trajectory of this character's numerous other films over the past twenty years, I also came prepared with a healthy dose of skepticism and an armor of guarded expectations. This latest movie from the MCU, however, packs one emotional punch and thrill after the other. While I don't share some of the (I would say smug) criticism that some have levied against Marvel movies, these films usually aren't for me, as I find them as bloated as they are boring, often taking themselves way too seriously and inducing only headaches. (I guess that was kind of smug of me to write, wasn't it?) But some of the best ones (like Guardians of the Galaxy) know that when they hit the right notes, they knock it out of the park. Producer Kevin Feige and his team do just that here, too, with practically operatic nostalgia that simultaneously feels like the best kind of family reunion and fan service done right for a change. For that, they have been handsomely rewarded, as Spider-Man: No Way Home is both one of the most critically acclaimed films of last year and one of the highest-grossing movies of all time. (And yet, despite the Academy's rule change for Best Picture, this movie repeats the curse of The Dark Knight and is not nominated while other—far less deserving films—are.) Who knows where Spider-Man will go from here, but let's hope the next one is just as good as this one.
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