Dìdi

ChatGPT is less than two year old, and yet it feels like it's already a feature of everyday life, especially for teenagers who might be using it to cheat on homework assignments. But there is also evidence that the platform can be used to help young people figure out life. How do I know? I asked it, of course, and it provided me with a list of things the site can do to supposedly help, like providing educational assistance, career guidance, life skills, and emotional and mental support. "So," I asked, "what would you say if a teenager told you he didn't have any friends?" I won't write the response verbatim, but it started by saying, "I'm really sorry to hear you're feeling this way. Not having friends can be isolating, but you're definitely not alone in experiencing this. A lot of people, especially during their teenage years, go through periods of feeling disconnected from others, even if it seems like everyone else in their social circles figured out." It goes on to to talk about friendship and activities and all that stuff. The internet has come a long way since the days of SmarterChild.

I'm definitely on the team that says AI cannot replace humans in things like making sure young people's mental health needs are being met, especially as they figure out their identities and their place in this confusing world. But Chris Wang, a thirteen-year-old in 2008 California who is discovering his talent at using the camera while trying to figure out who he is, doesn't (or won't or can't) seek their guidance of his older family members, and the closest thing he has to ChatGPT is SmarterChild, the chatbot available on AOL Instant Messenger (both of which are now, obviously, defunct). Chris, when he's at his lowest and feels his decisions have isolated everyone from himself, tells SmarterChild that he has no friends. SmarterChild responds that it is Chris's friend. How could it not give a response like that? The programming of SmarterChild all those years ago meant that it would give rudimentary, limiting answers; any follow-up question would've confused it. Chris does not seem relieved, and he is just as lost as ever.

Dìdi, the Chinese word for younger brother, stars Izaac Wang as Chris. He and his sister (Shirley Chen) fight constantly before she goes off to college. They're being raised by their mother, Chungsing (Joan Chen). She's not a single mother, but her husband is constantly away in Taiwan as the family's breadwinner. The other adult in the home is her mother-in-law (played by the great Chang Li Hua, an untrained actor who is director Sean Wang's real-life grandmother and was featured in his Oscar-nominated short this year). When Chris is not at home, his life is pretty normal, which means its enormously complicated. He watches YouTube videos on how to kiss, gets into fights, gains and loses friends, and begins to explore his talents as a filmmaker, in this case filming older kids skateboarding in parking lots.

Many aspects of teenage life (at least about teenage boys) are explored in Dìdi, Sean Wang's feature-length directorial debut, for better or worse. Our protagonist seems like a kind boy who tries his best and means well, but he makes one bad choice after another, like virtually any other child. Let's face it: Chris can be kind of annoying, at least when he's with his male friends, who are even more annoying. Exploding an older person's mailbox may be rebelliously invigorating as a teenager; no adult watching it, however, would be amused. I'm sure if Adult Chris found the YouTube video he made of it, he would regret what he had done. Yet it's not simply his boyhood antics that may cause audiences to cringe. For example, brother-sister rivalries and feuds can be nasty, but this one is epically horrifying. The way he and his sister treat each other is regrettable, but unfortunately, things like that happen in families. The most heartbreaking, though, is the relationship with his mother, like when he shows disinterest in her artwork. The pain in her eyes says it all.

Part of what makes those family scenes work so effectively is the acting of Izaac Wang and Joan Chen. (You may recognize Wang from his performance in Good Boys and Chen for her roles in The Last Emperor, Twin Peaks, and others.) Chen's performance as the matriarch of the family is the latest to provide a vivid portrait of an Asian parent traversing East and West in middle-class USA, joining stellar performances like Collin Chou in The Half of It, Steven Yuen and Han Ye-ri in Minari, and Diana Lin and Tzi Ma in The Farewell. For Chen, the pressure on her is great: raising her children while her husband is away while simultaneously competing with other Asian parents whose children seem to be excelling above what her own children are. The constant criticism from her mother-in-law is not helping. All the while, her dreams of being an artist slip away with each passing day. It's a tearjerking performance, one that I hope is rewarded next winter. 

Dìdi more or less captures the essence of what it's like to be a teenager boy, especially back then. For those who were around that age in 2008, the film will (likely) hit some nostalgic notes, depending on how old you were back then. (That being said, I didn't know that AOL Instant Messenger hadn't gone extinct by 2008—I was kind of late to that party and only used it for a short while during my freshman year in high school in 2001, so my extremely dorky AOL name was cooliomhs2001. I was a tad late to the Facebook party, too, joining my freshman year of university in 2005, but I confess I never had a MySpace page.) Even if you weren't a teenager in the late Aughts, the themes and memories are probably universal, with the immaturity and the desperation to be seen in an ideal light, even if it means lying to impress others (especially crushes and best friends), and the awkwardness of navigating everything are the most obvious examples. 

My main complaint about the film may seem trivial, but it's valid (in my opinion): there's a sophomorically excessive amount of bathroom humor in this film. Adding to the problem is that this film feels a lot longer than its roughly ninety-minute runtime. Many, however, will not be bothered by the toilet humor, and they may or may not agree with me that the film overstays its welcome. As a coming-of-age story, it works better as a drama than as a comedy, but one way or the other, director Wang has shown his talents are sufficient enough that one waits in great anticipation for his next tale (be in a documentary or not).  

To conclude, it's worth noting that the final part of ChatGPT's advice to a hypothetical teenager feeling lonely, guilty, isolated, and friendless was the following: "Most importantly, be kind to yourself. Friendships often come when you least expect them, and feeling confident in who you are helps attract others who value you for you." Chris Wang's confidence will take him far, but his kindness to himself, his appreciation of his racial identity, and especially to his family will help seal the deal.  

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Aisha

"Only the thing for which you have struggled will last."
-Nigerian (Yoruba) proverb

Aisha is often in a difficult place. She is a young refugee from Nigeria trying to persevere through the tedious refugee process of the Republic of Ireland. Ireland is an interesting country when it comes to migration. For the first time since 1851 during the Great Famine, the population of Ireland exceeded five million people, largely because of migration. Ireland has also had an enormous increase in refugees (a 749-percent increase from 2021 to 2022, the year the film Aisha was released in Ireland). Aisha is one of 81,256 refugees in Ireland in 2022. The system has come under further strain because a post-Brexit Britain (at least under the previous government) endorsed policies that directed refugees from Africa back into the EU through Ireland. 

These facts might help one appreciate just how much of an uphill battle she has in front of her. The film, directed by Frank Berry, is not concerned with statistics but the human condition, in which characters have little interest in such statistics but instead are simply trying to survive. Aisha, played by Letitia Wright, is one such character. She is seeking refugee status in Ireland while her mother is back home hiding in Nigeria. The film, which is also written by Berry, is patient with how much of Aisha's story is told and even the aftermath of certain moments. This is not to say the pacing is laborious; its pacing is mostly appropriate. One thing, though, is irrefutable, and that is that she is dealt one rotten hand after another in her struggles.

Viewers. might expect a certain type of film with certain tropes and certain character arches that can be predicted. They are unlikely to find it here. In weaker hands, this is the kind of film where the difficulties Aisha faces would be gratuitously displayed with great theatricality. Instead, in the film she witnesses more micro forms of racism in her everyday interactions with locals. At one point, for example, she is told by a customer she's tending to that her English is good. (English is the national language of Nigerian.) She's told she's lucky; she doesn't respond. True, there are some examples in the movie of more in-your-face varieties of discrimination and racism, especially from the immigration officers. One staff member who does display kindness towards her is named Conor (Josh O'Connor), the night guard at the center. Conor is a recovering drug addict and former prisoner who is now living with his mom. One might get the impression that he is a guilt-ridden and possibly sleep-deprived individual through some of the subtle choices O'Conor makes as an actor. For what it's worth, O'Conor, a Brit who was brought up in Gloucestershire, apparently does an impeccable Irish accent here, with one viewer on Reddit claiming he couldn't believe O'Conor wasn't Irish. 

Wright's performance in Aisha is her best yet. Known internationally mainly for role as Shuri in the Black Panther movies, she successfully utilizes the rich opportunity as the title character to show what she can do. There's a lot of restraint in her acting; she is playing a character who is frustrated, anxious, depressed,  helpless, guarded, disappointed, and not at all in control of her situations. Wright is challenged with exemplifying all of this in a measured, realistic way, as the film is not one to indulge in hyperbole, all the while the camera spends considerable time focused on her face. Wright and O'Conor are both commendable in the film, but Berry also deserves credit for including real voices of actual refugees here to share their stories. Their descriptions of the pain of deportation, memories from their homeland, and other critical details lend further legitimacy to the undertaking of those involved in Aisha. 

The friendship between Aisha and Connor (predictably) evolves into a flirtatious and romantic one. Conor even calls in sick to be with Aisha once she is moved to a different center farther away. The only time Aisha appears happy in the film is when she is with Conor. There's an obvious crush between them. They are moments of joy that give Aisha and the audience a break from the grim reality of her struggles to remain legally in Ireland.

Aisha is a recommendable film mainly because of what Berry, Wright, and O'Conor demonstrate in their work. Ideally, the three of them will continue to excel with future projects as realistic and honest as Aisha.

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Nobody Knows

Japan may have earned new fans of its cinema recently with its successful night at last month's Academy Awards in Hollywood. The Boy and the Heron won Animated Feature Film, and Godzilla Minus One took home the big win for Visual Effects, the first Oscar in the franchise's seventy-year history. Japan was also nominated in the International Feature category for Perfect Days, a somber film yet one that celebrates the hard work of the every man while making a strong case for minimalism. All three are (more or less) happy films. 

Nobody Knows, a 2004 drama written, directed, produced, and edited by Hirokazu Kore-eda, is not. This is a film that pivots away from an all's-well-that-ends-well conclusion of many famous Japanese motion pictures in favor of the bitter reality of the human condition. How could it not? The film is, very regrettably, inspired by a true story known as the Sugamo child abandonment case. I also wish I could say that child abandonment is incredibly rare, but it is obviously not. There are no monsters here, but real-life consequences when normal people do discreet yet cruel things. In the first scene of this film, the young boy who serves as the main character has longish hair and a tattered shirt; this will serve as a reminder throughout much of the film's two hours and twenty minutes that these children are in for the long haul of waiting for a provider who will never show up.

In the film, Yuya Yagira plays the young boy named Akira. At the beginning of the story, Akira and his mother, Keiko (You), seem to be a normal mother-and-son pair, delighting their landlord and landlady with a gift upon their first meeting. The landlord mentions it's good that Akira is in middle school, because a lot of the other tenants complain about too many noisy young children running around the building. No problem, according to Keiko. Well, there is a problem: three other children. Two have been hidden in their luggage that soon arrives via delivery. Their names are Shigeru (Hiei Kimura), the youngest boy, and Yuki (Momoko Shimizu), the youngest girl, who is only five. Akira later goes out to pick up his other younger sister, Kyōko (Ayu Kitaura), the second oldest in the family, at the train station. Between the two of them, they handle most of the responsibilities when their mother is away. There is no father figure in the family; all of the four children have different fathers.

Why did they move? Apparently, Shigeru was too boisterous, and it's implied that they were evicted or their lease wasn't renewed. Hence, hiding two children in pieces of luggage and sending a third by herself on the train to catch up is their solution. Are Japanese children too noisy, and are Japanese adults too intolerant towards them? I lived in Japan for thirteen months, and I wouldn't say Japanese children are any more or less energetic than their counterparts in other nations. I also can't speak as to whether or not Japanese people detest loud children, but I do know that there is a website detailing the noise of children in Japanese neighborhoods, warning others of children who play too noisily or scream, and that four children is not normal in Japan, with the country recently seeing a record low birthrate of 1.26 children per family, continuing a downward trend. In recent years, the Japanese government has tried to remedy this by investing $25 billion dollars to support families who may want children. But this bill was passed late last year—surely there was less of a concern back in 2004, the year of the film's release. Unlikely, because the total fertility rate in the country then was 1.29, only slightly higher than what it currently is. What about in 1988, the year in which the terrible incident that inspired this film take place? 1.66. 

It would be important to note here that Kore-eda does not make films that judge others. As he did in later films like After the Storm, the Palm d'Or-winning Shoplifters, and last year's Monster, his stories are of ordinary people caught up not necessarily in unordinary situations but those that one wishes simply did not exist. It might be impossible not to be angry at a person like Keiko, who not only later abandons her four children but in the early part of the film doesn't seem to be in much of a rush to actually get her two youngest ones out of the luggage that they themselves describe as "super hot." Not much information is explicitly revealed about her. Instead, the dialogue, how the children react around her, and You's performance fill in the gaps. 

You seems to inflect an exaggerated, childish tone and pitch to her character's voice, suggesting that Keiko was never going to be mature enough to take care of four children. The children characters, though, often are tolerant towards her, perhaps because she rarely scolds them or makes them eat vegetables (or even go to school), with only two instances of them losing patience with her: when Kyōko whispers to Akira that she reeks of alcohol and when Akira finally confronts her for being selfish and not looking after them or letting them go to school. Thus, they all have to grow up very quickly. Akira, in particular, becomes the father figure, budgeting on the spot while shopping and cooking curry for the three younger ones while teaching himself math at night. One morning, though, there is a note that their mother has gone away for a while. Now, the growth of his parenting skills really needs to accelerate. 

The four actors portraying the children (as well as Hanae Kan as a young school girl who frequently skips class to hang out with them) all give remarkably naturalistic performances in a way that film companies, casting directors, and directors should take note. One would be very hard-pressed to find a director who can work as well with children as Kore-eda does. Using discreetly placed cameras and providing minimal specific directions, he was able to capture the four of them naturally going about their business as any young child would. This is especially evident in the performances of Kimura and Shimizu. Yagira's performance is especially praise-worthy. For his role in the film, he became the youngest winner of the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival in the festival's history. He was unable to attend, however—he was back home studying for exams.

If there is to be a message in the film, it may be a condemnation towards the conditions that resulted in such a tragedy, namely of adults' making. It's not simply the mother figure who abdicated her responsibilities, but a whole host of others who may be at fault: a child welfare system that separates siblings, a government that can't or won't help families who are financially struggling, absentee fathers, and well-meaning adults who simply look the other way. It's enough to depress the viewer, especially if they've seen the three aforementioned films from Japan, ones that celebrate the nation's abundance of color, spirit, and even superior toilets. In Nobody Knows, Kor-eda is not interested in such fairytales; it's as if his film screams in the opposite direction that things are not as perfect as they seem. But as Roger Ebert once said, no good movie is depressing; all bad movies are depressing. Nobody Knows is certainly worth a watch on its twenty anniversary, especially for its extraordinary acting.

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The Man With the Golden Arm

In 1955, three titans of 20th-century art (Otto Preminger, Elmer Bernstein, and Frank Sinatra) united to adapt Nelson Algren's novel The Man with the Golden Arm into a motion picture. A critically acclaimed hit at the time, it remains a powerful (albeit adulterated) look at substance abuse from a time when depictions of such things were considered far more controversial. It is not a perfect film. However, while the film can grow tiring at times, the acting of Sinatra is wonderful.

In one of his most famous performances, Sinatra plays Frankie Machine, an aspiring musician and ex-convict who "kicked" a nasty drug addiction to heroin. Now, he has arms of pure gold and dreams of a second chance. "Everything's gonna be all right," he says. In the beginning of the film, he walks into a bar where he meets his old pal Sparrow (Arnold Strang), a conman and precursor to Rizzo Ratzo in Midnight Cowboy. Sparrow is a comic relief character (though not a particularly funny one). Frankie then goes home, where a sign that says "WELLCOME HOME, FRANKIE" awaits him. Presumably, this was written by his wife, Sophia (or "Zosh," as he calls her), played by Eleanor Parker, the "woman of a thousand faces." Zosh often uses a whistle to calm herself down and recalibrate, and she requires a wheelchair. There does not appear to be much love in their relationship, especially because Frankie seems to be falling for an old fling played by Kim Novak. 

Despite Frankie's desire to start over and start clean, other acquaintances of his have more menacing plans for him. Schwiefka (Robert Strauss), with a thick mustache and a cigar he frequently chews, attempts to recruit him again to deal for his illegal card game, while the dapper yet sinister Louie (Darren McGavin) tries to seduce Frankie into using again. "Seduce" is an appropriate term, for there are obvious homoerotic moments between Frankie and Louie, as the latter consistently preys on the former. (Apparently, the homoeroticism between the two exists in the novel as well.) Between Schwiefka's insistence that Frankie is the best dealer in town, Louie's insistence that Frankie needs the drugs again, and Zosh's insistence that he really isn't a good enough drummer to get a job, Frankie's chances for success appear slim.

The Man with the Golden Arm is not nearly as overly melodramatic as the Best Picture-winning The Lost Weekend from about a decade. before, in which the main character's alcoholism resulted in hallucinations of bats. Frankie's situation is desperate, and. yet Preminger, Sinatra, Bernstein, and the other members of the team present it to the audience in much more powerful yet subtle ways than The Lost Weekend did. This is often done through the camera's focus on Frankie's eyes, an act that reveals his continued drug use to the other characters and the hopelessness he finds himself in. There are no imaginary bats here. 

Part of what makes this successful is Bernstein's music. Given its setting in Chicago, it makes perfect sense to use a jazz theme. But the way he uses crescendos and an urgent brass to punctuate the drama will send chills down your spine. Bernstein, who was 33 years old at the time, was nominated for Best Original Score. Set designers Joseph C. Wright and Darrell Silvera (who were also nominated) are also worthy of the praise they received. The 1950s were a decade that featured lots of favorable economic conditions to many Americans; the economy grew by almost 40 percent, and unemployment was lower than 5 percent. Yet everything appears dilapidated and dystopic in this film thanks in large part to the set design.

The Man with the Golden Arm is a remarkably patient film, taking its time in providing the viewers information about these characters and details related to the plot. It is thirty minutes into the film before we get some information on why everything is as it appears. However, that is also the weakest aspect of this film, as its pace becomings taxing, frequently shifting from intensity to apathy. When the film "tells us" what Frankie is experiencing instead of showing us, the experience is also damaged. We already know that Frankie's addiction is destroying him; we don't need him to awkwardly tell Zosh that there's an allegorical monkey on his back. Some trimming really could have helped the film. Much of the screenplay, written for the screen by Walter Newman, Lewis Meltzer, and an uncredited Ben Hecht, works, but in typical 1950s fashion, much of the original source material (particularly the climactic scene) was diluted to be more palatable for audiences of the conservative era. This also hurts the film, though the numerous surprises toward the end help it recover, especially as we get to see Parker and McGavin deliver their best moments. Parker and McGavin are best known today for their roles in family-friend movies of the past: Parker as Baroness Elsa von Schraeder in The Sound of Music and McGavin as the father in A Christmas Story. You won't recognize either of them in The Man with the Golden Arm; that's how fantastic their acting is.

Sinatra's acting, though, shines the most. Sinatra was nominated for Best Actor for his work here. (He lost to Marty star Ernest Borgnine, who played the rival of Sinatra's character in From Here to Eternity two years before, the movie that earned Sinatra his Oscar.) His acting sometimes dives into "most acting," ann annoying habit many actors play with when they really want you to know just how much effort they're putting into it. But his showing is superior to his telling, like whenever he plays the drums of is desperate for drugs. This is most obvious in Frankie's audition scene, a tense, painful moment in which he struggles to perform while going through withdrawal after dealing cards for nearly two days. It is a very sympathetic performance during a time in which I imagine the public was less sympathetic to such characters. Indeed, this was a somewhat controversial film. Preminger and United Artists decided to release the film without a Code approval despite its topic. When the Production Code Administration denied the film a Code approval and the Motion Picture Association of America upheld the decision, UA quit the MPAA. Despite this, large theater chains agreed to show the film, pacing the way for later films to tackle other taboo subjects. (After receiving a Production Code seal in 1961, the film was allowed to be broadcast on television.)  

The Man with the Golden Arm may suffer form an unjustified length and pace, but its music, themes, bravery, set design, and acting make it a recommendable film.

This article was originally published in Public Domain Film Review on August 3, 2020.

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All 53 of the 2024 Oscar-nominated Films Ranked

Ben Zauzmer is a baseball statistician and assistant general manager of the New York Mets. He's also really good at predicting Oscar winners. Last year, he accurately predicted nineteen out of twenty wins. His book about using math to predict the winners is called Oscarmetrics; think of him as the Nate Silver of Oscar bets. He recently pointed out on Twitter the horserace between two very different films: Barbie, the feminist box-office juggernaut that was the highest grossing film of last year, and Poor Things, the feminist reimagining of the Frankenstein story. (The two movie's feminist themes are just about their only similarities.) The category in question was for Costume Design. Barbie, he wrote, won the Costume Designers Guild Award for Fantasy/Sci Fi, while Poor Things won for Period Film. Barbie also won the Critics Choice Award for the same category, while Poor Things won the BAFTA. "We've got ourselves quite a race," was how he put it.

It's not simply Barbie versus Poor Things in these horse races, and it's not simply over the costume designs. A variety of categories featuring a variety of different films are running neck and neck, making this year's ceremony a bit tougher to predict than last year's, when it was fairly easy to predict that Everything Everywhere All at Once would dominate and most of the other awards were predictable. The only sure bet of this year's awards is that Oppenheimer, the Christopher Nolan-directed, multi-linear retelling of Robert Oppenheimer's internal tormenting of becoming "Death, the Destroyer of Worlds" at having designed the atomic bombs that decimated Japan at the end of World War II, will likely dominate the night. It seems unlikely that Oppenheimer will not bring home prizes for its director and the night's top prize, Best Picture. Da'Vine Joy Randolph is also a shoe-in for Actress in a Supporting Role for her exceptional performance in The Holdovers as a mother in grief who is just trying to persevere, as does Robert Downey Jr. for a third-time's-a-charm victory for Oppenheimer in the Actor in a Supporting Role category. 

Other wins seem likely: Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell will probably win their second Oscar for their song in Barbie called "What Was I Made For?", Oppenheimer will pick up a lot of technical awards for things like editing and cinematography, and the British film The Zone of Interest probably is the favorite for International Feature Film. Other categories are less certain. Will Emma Stone win her second Oscar, or will Lily Gladstone make history? (Can't it just be a three-way tie between the two of them and Sandra Hüller?) Will it be Cillian Murphy's performance as the tormented title role in Oppenheimer or Paul Giamatti as a bitter, detested teacher that takes home the statuette?  

I regret to say that I was a bit more disappointed in these nominated films than I usually am. Of the fifty-three nominated-films, I can only recommend about three fifths of them. Last year, I liked more than seventy-five percent of them. At any rate, cats and kittens, here is my ranking of all 53 of the 2024 Oscar nominees:

53. The Boy and the Heron

Animated Feature Film (Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki)

I'm sure I will lose many potential readers from continuing by having The Boy and the Heron (a movie with a 97-percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a host of awards, including a BAFTA and a Golden Globe) come in at dead last. This story brought famed filmmaker Hayoa Miyazaki out of retirement, so it was destined for greatness, wasn't it? I certainly don't think it achieved it. I confess that it pains me to put a film directed by Miyazaki at the very bottom of this list, but this film (his newest and possibly last, now that he's in his eighties) did not approach anywhere near the expectations I had for it. Miyazaki is the artist who helmed such beloved classics as Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and My Neighbor Totoro; even some of his weaker films (like Howl's Moving Castle and Kiki's Delivery Service) are far superior to The Boy and the Heron. Is it a pretty film to look at? I guess, but it also looks a bit absurd at times. If "absurd" is too harsh an adjective to utilize here, I would at least lean towards words like "tedious" and "repetitious." This movie bored me to tears.

52. Robot Dreams

Animated Feature Film (Pablo Berger, Ibon Cormenzana, Ignasi Estapé, Sandra Tapia Díaz)

A bored, lonely dog in New York City purchases a walking (but voiceless, because every character is voiceless in this Spanish-French flick based on Sara Varon's comics) robot. The two hold hands in Central Park. They dance on roller blades to "September" as a crowd claps. They have a blast. It's 10:53 and time for bed. What would have concluded a decent (albeit negligible) animated short goes on for another hour and fifteen minutes. For the rest of the film, Dog and Robot are separated and...that's about it. The traditional animation employed in Robot Dreams (a film just about as boring as The Boy and the Heron) by Pablo Berger and his team should be celebrated, but it ultimately demonstrates the limitations of plotless animated storytelling, with these two protagonists' journey towards reunion proving to be one dull moment after the other.  

51. Elemental 

Animated Feature Film (Peter Sohn, Denise Ream)

I do not know why Elemental is nominated for an Oscar, especially when superior films like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, with its better voice acting, animation, story, score, and humor, or even The Super Mario Bros. Movie (a film I didn't care for) are both more deserving. I suppose Elemental, a film that has just about nothing going for it, is nominated because it is filling an obligatory Pixar slot. Yet it's remarkable how unbelievably flat this film, Pixar's latest attempt to dive into metaphorical tales (in this case (a Romeo and Juliet-style romance between literal fire and literal water) is; it's a film that falls way short of their previous masterpieces (namely Toy Story, Finding Nemo, WALL-E, Up, and Inside Out). It's the kind of film that requires a few attempts to sit through and intense efforts to stay focused and see it through, and you'll almost totally forget you watched this the very next day. Oscars, please: Pixar doesn't need to be nominated every year.

50. Pachyderme 
Short Film (Animated) (Stéphanie Clérment, Marc Rius)

I hate to dismiss Pachyderme as "very French," but I'm not sure what else to say. Not much happens here; it's memoir of a young girl spending a few weeks with her grandparents and that's about i. The term "pachyderme" means "thick skin" and is commonly used to refer to animals like elephants and hippopotamuses. Does this have any relevance to the film? I have no idea. Why? Well, it's a very...French...film. The narrator speaking about her time as a young girl has such lines like the following: "Their house is very tidy. The logs arranged by size, the books in alphabetical order, the thimble collection in the vitrine. The car sleeps under its blanket. There's gravel outside so the mud isn't tracked in. The sitting room smells like polish and the kitchen, bleach." So, yeah. While the story leaves much to be desired, the pastel-like visuals in this short film are gorgeous, and they are what likely secured its nomination.  

49. Napoleon

Costume Design (Janty Yates, Dave Crossman), Production Design (Arthur Max, Elli Griff), Visual Effects (Charley Henley, Luc-Ewen Martin-Fenouillet, Simone Coco, Neil Corbould)

Watching Napoleon, the nearly three-hour bloated biographical film of France's emperor directed by Ridley Scott, feels like a very tedious homework assignment. True, it's a visually stunning film, with its three nominations (for its production design, costume design, and visual effects) being richly deserved, but being visually stunning can only sustain interest for so long. Thus, Napoleon is a film that can truly feel over-directed (if the Academy had simply awarded Scott Best Director twenty-plus years ago for Gladiator, the last time he worked with Joaquin Phoenix, we may have been spared some of these intense attempts at finally giving Scott the big trophy), but it's hard to say the film is over-acted, because after putting in so much energy for his Oscar-winning performance in Joker, Phoenix often seems bored in films like this. That being said, he at least temporarily became memified with the silly "destiny has brought me this lamb chop" line. Meme or no meme, Napoleon feels like about as compelling a story as one would find on the History Channel.

48. Golda 

Makeup and Hairstyling (Karen Hartley Thomas, Suzi Battersby, Ashra Kelly-Blue)

Golda is one half of the Makeup and Hairstyling's "Jewface problem," according to Rebecca Long (with the other film being, obviously, Maestro). Noting that Oscar noms for things like Ashkenazi noses legitimize the treatment of ethnicities as costumes, she asks the following powerful question: "Just because makeup artists can transform performers beyond recognition, does that always mean they should?" Beyond that controversy, it is uncomfortable watching a movie that mostly glorifies an Israeli prime minister while another one wages a war that has, as of this writing, killed more than 30,000 Palestinians and left children as young as five years old wanting to die. Even if this film were devoid of those two controversies, it wouldn't erase the fact that, other than Helen Mirren's performance in the title role, this film is very forgettable.

47. WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko

Animated Short Film (David Mullins, Brad Booker)

Given the roll the Beatles have been on lately (winning yet another Grammy last month and before that releasing their much-anticipated final song, "Now and Then," which is their first number-one hit since 1969), it isn't a surprise that a movie inspired by John Lennon and Yoko Ono's immortal song "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" would be getting Oscar buzz. Unfortunately, the animated short written and directed by Pixar alumnus David Mullins and executive produced by Sean Lennon doesn't live up to the name. The background animation (set in a fictional, World War I-esque battlefield) by Wētā FX Limited looks innovative, but the human characters look like outtakes from Shrek. WAR IS OVER! is certainly not the best of the five animated short films, but given its name recognition and well-intended message in a time of war, it has a good chance of winning. 

46. Knight of Fortune
Live Action Short Film (Lasse Lyskæker Noer, Christian Norlyk)

Knight of Fortune, written and directed by Lasse Lyskæker Noer, is a quirky, borderline absurdist film from Denmark about two men who meets as strangers at a morgue, both of them in grief after the losses of their wives. This comedy-drama contains the potential to move many (or some), but I felt nothing while watching it. Knight of Fortune fills in the inevitable spot for an idiosyncratic short from Western Europe. Its juxtaposition of comedy and tragedy didn't work for me, but I suppose I'm glad it worked for others.

45. The Eternal Memory

Documentary Feature Film (Maitre Alberdi)

I felt guilty not caring much for The Eternal Memory, a Chilean documentary detailing the relationship of Paulina Urruita (the actress and former State Minister) and Augusto Góngora (the journalist) while the former cares for the latter during his decline due to Alzheimer's. There are a few very moving moments in this documentary, especially as one witnesses the pain of the disease through the lens of their marriage. It successfully captures the mettle and affliction involved in such a depressing process. Also, the film works as a romance; these two are two people deeply in love. That being said, I regret to write that despite these attempt to tug at my emotions, I felt detached, which is clearly not what the filmmakers wanted, and I think it is more than fair to say that this is a weaker film than the previous movie Alberdi was nominated for a few years ago: The Mole Agent, which was nominated not only for Documentary Feature Film but also International Feature Film. 

44. The After
Live Action Short Film (Misan Harriman, Nicky Bentham)

The After is as peculiar as it is bleak. A film centering on grief while also serving as a critique of the mass stabbings in England (there were almost 13,000 knife-related offenses in London alone last year), it features a stellar performance by David Oyelowo and his costars, but it's such a desolate experience watching it that one can hardly recommend it. Oyelowo tries to make the best of dismal material (though he likely really bought into it). Despite how morbid it is, one would consider The After (due to its presence on Netflix and its A-list star) a frontrunner in this category, but it is likely to lose to another short available on Netflix. More on that later...

43. El Conde

Cinematography (Edward Lachman)

El Conde from Chile is probably a must-see for hardcore horror fans, particularly those who are into vampire films, but its appeal will be limited. The film imagines if Augusto Pinochet, the brutal dictator of Chile, were actually a vampire who faked his death and was still feasting on the living. Creative takes on vampire lore have been told better in recent years (like Let the Right One In and My Heart Can't Beat Unless You Tell It To, for example) than this one, a film whose schtick gets old pretty quickly; indeed, this kind of a tale feels like it was better suited for a short story than a nearly two-hour flick on Netflix. It's a clever movie, no doubt, but it's not nearly as clever as it would like to think it is. The film's eerie black-and-white cinematography is gorgeous to look at, though, so it has earned its nomination, but it ultimately just feels like a neat idea that grows tiresome too quickly.

42. Flamin' Hot
Music (Original Song) ("The Fire Inside" by Diane Warren)

Flamin' Hot, the directorial debut of Eva Longoria about business executive Richard Montañez, is a well-intentioned rags-to-riches story (although there were better similar tales from last year that were more deserving of nominations, like A Million Miles Away and Blue Beetle), surprisingly truthful in its critiques of Reaganomics and racism, but ultimately the kind of capitalist propaganda you would expect if Frito-Lay made a movie about themselves. (It probably doesn't help that Montañez's claims of inventing the Flamin' Hot Cheetos have been refuted by many.) It's ultimately, then, like an older white liberal's version of movies about economics: critique boogeymen without attacking the actual monster that allows the boogeymen to fester. The film's sole nomination is for a song by Diane Warren, who now has fifteen nominations and will likely go home empty-handed yet again (though she was awarded an honorary Oscar in 2022). They should have given her three by now. Like basically all of Warren's recent nominations—"Applause" from Tell It Like a Woman, "Somehow You Do" from Four Good Days, or "Io sì (Seen)" from The Life Ahead, for example—this one is unlikely to remain in your head and even less likely to win. 

41. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Visual Effects (Stephane Ceretti, Alexis Wajsbrot, Guy Williams, Theo Bialek)

A morbid, boring, and hackneyed conclusion to a trilogy that started off exceptionally well, this final entry truly felt like two hours of animal torture. Here's how Glen Weldon put it: "The problem at the core of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 isn't the mere depiction of said animal experimentation...It's the fact that writer/director James Gunn approaches those scenes without trusting his audience to naturally recoil at the idea of animal cruelty. There is violent imagery, yes. But what makes those scenes profoundly unpleasant to sit through is not their violence itself, but Gunn's mawkish, maudlin, manipulative approach to it." Weldon didn't care for the film's villain either, the evil scientist called the High Evolutionary (played by Chukwudi Iwuji), calling him a character who shows up to "dutifully, even reflexively hiss." I would add that even if you buy into such villainy, you'll have to put up with a gratuitous amount of screaming from him in the process. Fortunately, a spray-painted Will Pouter as the clueless Warlock attempts to make up for the dejected lack of comic relief from virtually every one else, but it's not enough to save this send-off of the famous Marvel gang.

40. Society of the Snow

International Feature Film (Spain), Makeup and Hairstyling (Ana López-Puigcerver, David Martí, Montse Ribé)

Society of the Snow, a Spanish film about the group of survivors of the 1972 Uruguayan flight disaster struggling against the elements of bitter cold and starvation in the Andes mountains, was the top winner at this year's Goya Awards (Spain's Oscars). I don't share the enthusiasm. There are moments that work as the film progresses, like a scene involving the desperate survivors debating the ethics, legality, morality, and potential eternal consequences of some of their options for their fight to survive; the avalanche scene; and the film's final moments, which are quite moving. So many other scenes, however, are evidence of the painful reality of what I like to think of as diminishing marginal returns of being a frequent movie watcher. In other words, viewing Society of the Snow makes one thing of the expression that if you've seen one type of film, you've seen 'em all. The crash scene, as harrowing as it is brutal, is far too similar to the crash scene in The Grey. This story was told once before (in 1993's Alive, starring Ethan Hawke), and the bitter fight against the cold was told more effectively in 2016's The Revenant. It's possible I'm being too harsh to a film everyone (especially the Spanish) seemed to adore. I just felt like a lot of this wasn't new to me.     

39. Nyad
Actress in a Leading Role (Annette Bening), Actress in a Supporting Role (Jodie Foster)

Nyad, the real-life story of Diana Nyad's attempts to swim from Cuba to Florida, is directed by the Oscar-winning team of Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, who made their scripted-film debut with this project, and yet (even though there are many intense, suspenseful scenes of Nyad swimming the Straits of Florida, battling the elements of sea creatures and dreading defeat) this film feels so much less interesting and less engrossing than their documentaries Free Solo and The Rescue. Aiming for motivational, their efforts produce moments that are instead rather corny. They do, however, help Annette Bening deliver another successful performance, though (despite the fact that after five nominations, she should have won by now) she faces truly fierce competition in this category, so she is very much unlikely to win. Despite this performance (and kind of a forgettable one by Jodie Foster) and the high stakes of this real-life drama, this retelling of it is a remarkably monotonous movie that pales in comparison to other sports dramas like Battle of the Sexes.    

38. Maestro
Best Picture (Bradley Cooper,  Steven Spielberg, Fred Berner, Amy Durning, Kristie Macosko Krieger), Actor in a Leading Role (Cooper), Actress in a Leading Role (Carey Mulligan), Cinematography (Matthew Libatique), Makeup and Hairstyling (Kazu Hiro, Kay Georgiou, Lori McCoy-Bell), Sound (Steven A. Morrow, Richard King Jason Ruder, Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic), Writing (Original Screenplay) (Cooper, Josh Singer)

Bradley Cooper certainly deserves an A for effort for this film, a biopic about the marriage of composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein and actress Felicia Montealegre, in which it is evident that he poured his heart and soul into it for the past five years. His effort aside, the result does not do much to distinguish itself from other banal biographical films. True, some of the scenes are neat, but they are neat either because of Bernstein's music or the music of others he conducted (like the legendary performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 2), not necessarily because of anything Cooper is doing as a director. In terms of acting, the results are also mixed: I personally felt that Cooper should have won for his performance in A Star is Born five years ago (instead of Remi Malek for Bohemian Rhapsody), but here his performance is distracting. His pained efforts to demonstrate the tole of consistent smoking had on Bernstein's voice and the resulting dysphonia make him sound consistently nasally almost in a humorous, forced way. As Tim Rice put it, "the performance is as prosthetic as Cooper's much-ballyhooed fake nose: It's not acting so much as it's imitation. Maestro's real subject is not Bernstein but Cooper himself. The point is not to celebrate or interrogate the conductor but to show what Bradley Cooper learned in the six years he spent studying conducting." Carey Mulligan, however, does much of the heavy lifting here as Felicia, delivering yet another exceptional performance. 

37. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Animated Feature Film (Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Amy Pascal)

I wish I could say I liked the newest animated Spider-Man film from Sony, the tenth since 2002, but alas, I did not. I felt as if nothing new was added from the previous entry, Into the Spider-Verse (which won in this category a few years ago). The animation is great—no one would contest that. But (aside from the addition of Oscar Isaac as Spider-Man 2099), everything simply felt like deleted material from the first film. But, I get it. People loved it almost as much (or perhaps more) than its predecessor and even many of the acclaimed live-action versions Marvel and/or Sony made. It's still neat to see the trials and tribulations of Miles Mirales (voiced by Shameik Moore), a teenager in New York balancing a variety of issues. Having taken home the top prize at this year's Annie Awards, Across the Spider-Verse could very well be the frontrunner and take home the big prize yet again. 

36. Rustin

Actor in a Leading Role (Coleman Domingo)

The story of Bayard Rustin, a key Martin Luther King ally and the main organizer of the March on Washington, has long been overdo for a movie of its own. It's also a history-making nomination for its lead actor, Coleman Domingo, who is the first Afro-Latino man to be nominated for Best Actor and the first openly gay man to be nominated here since Ian McKellen was for Gods and Monsters back in 1999. (Rustin, of course, was also gay, and was also instrumental in the gay rights movement.) The problem is that the final product from the Obamas' Higher Ground production comes across as flat in a way that Aisha Harris dismissed as the kind of movie a social studies teacher might put on one day in class. If this film is flat, its acting is over the top. The last time a lot of these collaborators met together for a Netflix production was for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom in 2020. For that film, everything seemed necessarily theatrical. Here, in Rustin, it's a distraction. So, too, are most of the performances, with everyone from Chris Rock to Glynn Turman to fellow Oscar nominee Jeffrey Wright to (chief among them) Domingo in the title role overdoing it. The film's ideological points on racism in the United States, the lethargic pace the federal government took to prevent it, and the mistreatment of Rustin during his life are spot-on, but the film ultimately feels like a missed opportunity. I got the sense that the 2003 documentary Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin, which help lead to more awareness of Rustin's work, is probably a more suitable and more entertaining depiction to honor his legacy.  

35. Perfect Days

International Feature Film (Japan)

Japan is about as close to perfect of a country I've ever lived in, and much of my enjoyment of the first third or so of Perfect Days was likely primarily due to nostalgia. Everything is really pristine in that country, thanks largely to the hard work of cleaners like Hirayama, played here by Kōji Yakusho, despite members of society looking down on them. Indeed, at times the film feels like soft-power propaganda championing not only the relative calm and cleanliness of Japan but also its omnipresent public toilets and their bidets (in addition to potently visualizing how detachment from social media and modern-day technology can very much be a good thing). Unfortunately, nostalgia can only take a film so far. This slow-burner burns too slowly, simultaneously lacking both mood and plot. Co-written and directed by the German director Wim Wenders (this is the first time Japan's nominee for International Feature Film has been directed by a non-Japanese artist), the film is riddled with annoying performances and oversimplifications. Yakusho's performance is a neat one (the Cannes Film Festival awarded him with the Best Actor prize), but it's overly silent and overly simplistic. None of the other performances are particularly good, either. Ultimately, I'm sure Perfect Days works for a lot of people (or at least they force themselves to think that it does), but it didn't work for me. 

34. The Creator

Visual Effects, Sound (Ian Voigt, Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn, Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic)

Watching The Creator is a bit paradoxical. On the one hand, no one can deny that this is a visually brilliant film, and the visual effects by Industrial Light and Magic, SDFX Studios, Yannix, and a whole host of other companies are arguably the greatest of the five nominees. The Creator looks like many other great science fiction action films before it, like Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and Rogue One, which was also directed by Gareth Edwards. On the other hand, The Creator, while not containing many concrete flaws, does not do enough to distinguish itself narratively to be placed in the same league as the aforementioned works. True, some moments do work really well, namely its visuals and the performance of Madeleine Yuna Voyles as the young Christ-like A.I. simulant the protagonist (played by John David Washington) is first trying to destroy and eventually protect in this allegorical post-apocalyptic war between the anti-A.I. West and the A.I.-supporting nations of New Asia. But by the end of the film, it is all too little too late, as the whole thing feels poorly paced and surprisingly uninteresting, despite the themes (mainly about artificial intelligence and conflicts between the East and West) normally being ones that should animated audience members today. It's hard to say The Creator is bad, but it's nowhere as good as it could have been.   

33. American Fiction

Best Picture (Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios, Cord Jefferson, Jermaine Johnson), Actor in a Leading Role (Jeffrey Wright), Actor in a Supporting Role (Sterling K. Brown), Music (Original Score) (Laura Karpman), Writing (Adapted Screenplay) (Cord Jefferson)

Based on the 2001 novel Erasure by Percival Everett, American Fiction takes aim squarely at well-intentioned white liberals who feel they are giving voice to Black stories but only promoting works of fiction that depict deeply rooted stereotypes. This is a worthy critique that American Fiction puts forward, but I can't help but wonder if the opposite effect will happen. Remember Bradley Whitford's character in Get Out and how he would go to great lengths to point out that Barack Obama was the best president of his lifetime, and how this was used as a shield he projected to protect him from others thinking he's a racist? I wouldn't be surprised if within the next few years (or at least during this awards season), a bunch of white liberals are going to make sure all of their Black friends know how much they enjoyed American Fiction. Fortunately, the cast is great, namely Jeffrey Wright (in perhaps his finest performance, and also in a rare outing as the lead character) and Erika Alexander, who was also in Earth Mama last year. The film itself, not so much. 

32. Barbie
Best Picture (David Heyman, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, Robbie Brenner), Actor in a Supporting Role (Ryan Gosling), Actress in a Supporting Role (America Ferrera), Costume Design Jacqueline Durran), Music (Original Song) ("I'm Just Ken," by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt), Music (Original Song) ("What Was I Made For?" by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell), Production Design (Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer), Writing (Adapted Screenplay) (Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach)

I really, really wanted to like Barbie. I was intrigued when that first teaser gently poked fun at 2001: A Space Odyssey (which is in the film), then was quite excited after the second trailer with the Beach Boys song "Fun, Fun, Fun" (which isn't) blaring away. My high expectations were not met. To be clear, I'm not Ben Shapiro. I'm not whining about the film "unironically" using the word patriarchy. But as a comedy (or even as social commentary), I found it disappointing. As a comedy, in particular, all I can say is that it's never laugh-out-loud funny, whether it's the sophomoric fake vomiting during the "flat feat" scene or Kate McKinnon's antics or Will Ferrell shouting (like he has always done for more than twenty years). That being said, Barbie is a film that's marvelous to look at, especially those wonderful sets by Sarah Greenwood, and the "Dance the Night Away" was peak joy in 2023 cinema. I can't say Barbie is bad, per se. Like a lot of the big films of last year, one can marvel at all the effort that went into it, and it being the highest-grossing film of the year certainly helped it resonate with audience members. The film's messages, like during the MeToo movement, offer just as important lessons for its male audience members as it does for its female audience members, often visualizing problematic behavior of men that they most likely would recognize doing at least once in their lives. The cast look as if they're having a blast, especially Ryan Gosling's performance as the man-child Ken (and the perfect "I'm Just Ken" number). Gosling may not be the frontrunner for Best Supporting Actor, but he deserves to win. His job in this film and how successfully he accomplishes it is more impressive than the other four nominees. Ultimately, though, Barbie is unfortunately not nearly as good as everyone said it was.   

31. Ninety-five Senses

Animated Short Film (Jerusha Hess, Jared Hess)

Ninety-five Senses is another wonderfully animated short the Academy likes to appreciate that one might forget one watched a few weeks later. Much of the heavy lifting of the film is done by Tim Blake Nelson, who brings to life our protagonist, an elder "hillbilly" (his word) who shares with us a lifetime of anecdotes and wisdom, from everything about the universal, lifelong pain of being scolded by an adult as a child to his bewilderment that too much screen time is changing the shame of human eyes (a fact that I really wanted to not be true but that is, alas, apparently quite true.) The indelible animation by Jerusha and Jared Hess (the husband-and-wife team behind films like Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre) and their animators makes the film even better. The scientistic fact about our eyes becoming more of an oval shape, for example, is imaginatively created as worm-life creatures bursting out of a human head. However, the sudden shift in plot and tone about halfway through the film could likely make many feel rather empty.

30. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Short Film (Live Action) Wes Anderson

I personally think Wes Anderson peaked just over a decade ago with Moonrise Kingdom. Since then, his films have become less and less interesting while simultaneously becoming more and more pretentious. This juxtaposition reached its zenith last year with Asteroid City, which is probably his most obnoxiously overripe project. Fortunately, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is not Asteroid City, mainly because it is an hour shorter and therefore more palatable. It still has many of the annoying qualities in his films: that rapid yet flat delivery of lines, the fantastical (if cumbersome) plot, and (overly) unique cinematography. This does not necessarily make The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, the first of four short films directed by Anderson adapted from Roald Dahl on Netflix last year, this one staring Benedict Cumberbatch, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, and Dev Patel, good or bad. It's just that, if one doesn't care of Anderson's recent films, one only has to sit through about forty minutes of it. And if giving Anderson an Oscar after seven nominations means he might finally tone it down, I'm all for it.   

29. Godzilla Minus One

Visual Effects (Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi, Tatsuji Nojima

Despite there being thirty-three Japanese Godzilla movies since 1954, this is the first Japanese Godzilla movie I have ever seen. This one (one that reimagines the famous kaiju in a much more villainous role as opposed to an anti-hero in the immediate aftermath of World War II), has taken the world by storm, becoming the most financially successful Godzilla movie. It has twelve nominations for the upcoming Japan Academy Film Prize, and this is also the franchise's first Oscar nomination. That being said, the effects look a little goofy compared to the other nominees, and the acting is often over the top. However, it is a fun film (as well as a surprisingly emotional one at times), though I think it sometimes works better as a postwar melodrama than it does a monster flick. 

28. The Teachers' Lounge

International Feature Film (Germany)

The Teachers' Lounge, the story about a school environment that runs amok due to several accusations during the search of a thief, gets a lot about a teacher's work life accurate: unpredictable student behavior, difficult conversations with parents, balancing acts, stress. Other moments, in which it tries to feel Shakespearean and conspiratorial, may inspire some eye rolling. At any rate, Leonie Benesch gives a commendable performance in the lead role as the new teacher at the school caught up in the maelstrom. Most of the young performers as the students do a fine job, as well.

27. Our Uniform

Animated Short Film (Yegane Moghaddam)

Our Uniform, a brief description of daily life for Iranian school girls, could serve as a decent companion piece to anyone reading Persepolis. The two stories overlap a bit, as they both depict the authoritarian school systems and societal demands of covering hair in Iran. That's ultimately one of its major issues: feeling like the story has already been told. That being said, the animation styles employed here are great, and it's a worthy nominee. It's also the shortest nominee (coming in at only seven minutes), which may or may not hurt its chances.  

26. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Sound (Chris Munro, James H. Mather, Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor), Visual Effects (Alex Wuttke, Simone Coco, Jeff Sutherland, Neil Corbould)

The best parts of the seventh Mission: Impossible film are basically the best parts of all the previous ones in this franchise: the quieter moments. Here, it's moments like the cat-and-mouse chase throughout the airport, as everyone on screen is balancing a variety of different tasks. The other stuff (the stuff that seems to draw in audiences) doesn't work for me that much, whether it's Tom Cruise diving off a cliff with his motorcycle or barely hanging on for his life as a train collapses beneath him. Even with all those stunts, I simply couldn't help but feel like I had already seen so much of this stuff before. I'm always amazed that so many prefer these newer Mission: Impossible movies (like this one and its predecessor, the fine but headache-inducing Fallout) over the original 1996 film directed by Brian DePalma, which had the perfect combination of brilliant calm moments (notably that iconic heist scene with Cruise dangling over a computer) and action-packed climaxes (without favoring the latter over the former), all while utilizing trains in a superior fashion over this entry. This newest film was decent, but did nothing to spark excitement for future entries in the franchise. 

25. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Music (Original Score) John Williams

Completing the original Lucas/Spielberg agreement for a five-picture deal of everyone's favorite cinematic archeologist, The Dial of Destiny brought back Harrison Ford in his most iconic role one last time for a film that, well, bombed, serving as ammunition for anti-woke forces who relished Disney's failure while QAnon-esque Sound of Freedom soared this past summer. Why were audiences so uninterested in the fifth film from a franchise that started more than forty years ago? Some blame Ford's age, though I think his age and the somber gravitas of a man who is bitter about how is life turned out is what is truly the best part of the film. (Additionally, Ford, who has always been under-appreciated as an actor in these films, is amazing in it.) Others put the blame on director James Mangold, but this, too, might be unfair, as he basically followed the same Spielberg playbook, although he did add an unnecessary hour and a budget four and a half times larger than that of its four predecessors at a whopping $300 million compared to a mean budget of $70 million. (Even Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which also suffered from complaints of excessive computer-generated imagery, cost almost half as much.) But the film's enormous yet expensive effects did not earn an Oscar like its score by the legendary maestro John Williams did. Williams, who has won five times since 1972 and is the second-most nominated artist in history (behind only Walt Disney) with fifty-four nominations, has now become the Diane Warren of film composing. His score here is okay but far less memorable than that of the other four. Why have the man, who is now 91, continually show up when they're not going to bother giving it to him, even when his has been the best (which has frequently happened)? (Williams even pointed out that his wife wears black dresses at the Oscars because he loses every year.) Why not nominate Gary Gunn for a much more memorable and novel score like his work in A Thousand and One? I don't get it.

24. Island in Between 

Documentary Short Film (S. Leo Chiang, Jean Tsien)

Anyone remotely concerned or invested in the growing fears of a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan (especially after the recent Taiwanese elections) would probably be quite keen on checking out this documentary short available on the New York Times' YouTube channel about S. Leo Chiang, a Taiwanese-born filmmaker who grew up in Kinmen, an island in Taiwan just thirty minutes by ferry from Xiamen, China. Featuring archival propaganda songs Chiang and his classmates would sing that would make North Korean propagandists blush, Chiang offers a conciliatory, cautious narration to this conflict, undeniably siding with the prevalent Taiwanese opinion that it is an independent nation but also feeling as if he is caught in the middle of a three-way custody battle (as he puts it) between China, the U.S., and Taiwan. Since the COVID pandemic shut down the ferries connecting the two lands, at the moment he doubts he will return to the mainland any time soon. For me, I took particular interest: I traveled to Taiwan in 2012 and really enjoyed it, and I lived in China for a little more than three years. While I am empathetic to China's position, I side with Taiwan on this. However, on a recent trip to Vietnam, I toured with some young Taiwanese tourists, one of whom asked if I thought the U.S. would intervene if China were to attack Taiwan. "No," I told him. He seemed taken aback. I wonder what he and his friends would think of this film.

 

23. Nǎi Nai & Wà Pó

Documentary Short Film (Sean Wang, Sam Davis)

Sean Wang's poignant love-letter to both his paternal and maternal grandmothers (nǎi nai means paternal grandmother in Chinese; wà pó means maternal grandmother), whom he shoots here as if they were movie stars (the term he has used in several interviews when describing them). His grandmothers are in their eighties and nineties, and they do just about everything together, from cooking to dancing to dressing up in hip clothing to even sleeping in the same bed together. We see all of this during his filming, which was in 2021 during the pandemic, the longest amount of time he had spent with them since he left home. There are a lot of joyful, silly moments he was able to capture during this time of the two, as they pass down their wisdom to him and the viewers in ways that feel expected but fresh. Indeed, they tell him more than once that he brings out these antics when he visits. Wang has claimed that if he wins, he'll bring them onstage and let them dance for forty-five seconds. I do not know if he is kidding or not, but it's something that certainly makes one root for him.

22. Invincible

Live Action Short Film (Vincent René-Lortie, Samuel Caron)

Invincible is considerably less joyful exuberant than Nǎi Nai & Wà Pó, sometimes overly so. Inspired by a true story, Invincible, from Canada, is a tragedy about a teenage boy in crisis mode. The teenager, named Marc, is mostly confined to a center for troubled youth. Rebellious and appearing incapable of positively responding to the interventions of the counselors, options are dwindling. Marc is played exceptionally convincingly by a young actor named Léokim Beaumier-Lépine. Beaumier-Lépine is in virtually every scene of this nearly thirty-minute short. He's a natural, and here's hoping he continues to do well in acting. He could do a lot of great things in cinema.

21. The Last Repair Shop
Documentary Short Film (Ben Proudfoot, Kris Bowers)

The Last Repair Shop is a wonderfully composed documentary short about four master craftspeople who repair instruments for students in the Los Angeles Unified School District. All of them are raconteurs, as well, sharing stories of their upbringing or how they came to the United States and, of course, their shared love of music. (One of the more interesting anecdotes is how one of them met Colonel Park—Elvis Presley's manager—who eventually became his son's godfather.) Even though this documentary is a short film, it has an epic, golden feel to it, one that enthusiastically embraces nostalgia and melophilia. Documentarians Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers (who also composed music for last year's The Color Purple) were last nominated in this category three years ago for A Concerto Is a Conversation, though they did not win. (Proudfoot won two years in this category for The Queen of Basketball.) They stand in a good place to win this year. 

20. The Color Purple

Actress in a Supporting Role (Danielle Brooks)

The original adaptation of Alice Walker's famous novel about a woman's trials and tribulations through the first half of the twentieth century infamously featured Oscar snubs of its star (Whoopi Goldberg) and its director (Steven Spielberg). It received eleven other nominations but did not win any, which is still a record. Here, the musical adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical, was similarly snubbed, with only Danielle Brooks earning a nomination. Everyone is thrilled that the exceptionally talented Brooks is nominated, and the four acting categories were very competitive this year, but it does seem surprising (or not) that more performances and production elements were not nominated. Of the film itself, the acting is the best part, namely Brooks and the other main performers: Taraji P. Henson, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, Halle Bailey, and Fantasia. As a film, like a lot of musicals it starts off better than it concludes; the songs are mostly forgettable, but the performances are great.  

19. 20 Days in Mariupol

Documentary Feature Film (Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner, Raney Aronson-Rath)

Last year, the winner for Documentary Feature Film was Navalny, the documentary focusing on the famous critic of Vladimir Putin. It was a well-deserved win, as it was the best of the five nominees, and the Academy was probably aching for an opportunity to attack the Russian leader. They will have another opportunity on Sunday with 20 Days in Mariupol, written, directed, and co-produced by the Ukrainian Pulitzer Prize-winning Associated Press journalist Mstyslav Chernov. This documentary is not easy to watch, especially for those who have grown increasingly disconsolate from the amount of wars on our planet, like in Myanmar, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Ukraine, and elsewhere. 20 Days in Mariupol, detailing the siege of the port city (which is still under Russian control) at the start of the war, is a raw and in-your-face film, often relentlessly so, bravely made but so effective that, on the one hand, it will certainly re-ignite hatred in your system for Putin and his criminal invasion and war in Ukraine, but on the other hand (especially because it was only a few weeks ago that Navalny was murdered, most likely by Putin's people), it may leave you feeling hopeless, especially because there seems to be no end in sight to the fighting. 

18. To Kill a Tiger

Documentary Feature Film (Nisha Pahuja, Cornelia Principe, David Oppenheim) 

I lean towards preferring To Kill a Tiger over 20 Days in Mariupol (the frontrunner), but that may be due to recency bias, as this was the last of all the nominated films that I watched. Both are depressing stories of modern-day realities—in this case, sexual violence in India, which suffered from an average of eighty-one rape cases in 2021 alone. This story focuses on a father and farmer in rural Jharkhand whose thirteen-year-old daughter was gang raped while attending a family wedding. Despite how meek the father sometimes comes across, the sense of justice he and his daughter have moves them forward. They are facing an uphill battle, though, as many in the community victim blame the young girl and promote a "boys will be boys" attitude. (Jharkhand continues to be in the news for such violent crimes. Just a few days ago, a Spanish tourist was gang raped by three men while camping there.) This film is certainly an important one that hopefully will educate many of the horrors and crimes still taking place against women.

17. Io Capitano

International Feature Film (Italy)

The word "odyssey" has often been used to describe Io Capitano, perhaps because that's likely one of the first words that come to mind about twenty minutes into the film, as the two teenagers from Senegal (played by Seydou Sarr and Moustapha Fall) start to head from home to Europe. "Odyssey," however, is too romantic a word, for this is a heartbreaking film depicting the terrible conditions and fates of many Africans making the journey. Earlier in the film, the mother of Seydou (the character Sarr plays) angrily asks him if he is aware of how many have died in the desert and in the ocean en route to Europe. She never answers him, but the number is harrowing: at least 29,000. Io Capitano paints a picture of that stark number, detailing the theft, kidnapping, and even torture of many of these migrants. Despite occasional humor early on in the film, this is very much a heartbreaking film that may be too depressing for many, but it should underscore the desperate need for regulations and laws to allow for safe and legal passage for migrants. One highlight of the film is the performance of Sarr, who won the Marcello Mastroianni Award at last year's Venice Film Festival and who should have been nominated for an Academy Award this year.

16. Bobi Wine: The People's President

Documentary Feature Film (Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp, John Battsek)

Bobi Wine: The People's President is a valorous documentary directed by Christopher Sharp and Moses Bwayo about the popstar-turned-politician Bobi Wine, the leader of the National Unity Party, which is the main opposition party in Uganda. Wine is up against the dictatorship of Yoweri Museveni, the man who has ruled Uganda since he came to power in 1986. As Noah Pitcher put it, Museveni has since "used his power to suppress dissent, silence opposition voices, and give himself more power." This documentary follows Wine in his challenge against Museveni's quest to change the constitution so that he can remain in power longer. For Wine, his opposition results in police intimidation, military detention, and even torture. This past October, Wine was arrested yet again. In an era of anti-democratic autocrats like Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping retaining power, watching yet another despot do so may be a nauseating experience for some. But for others, the opportunity to witness the courageous work of Wine, his supporters, and the filmmakers creating this documentary would surely be worth it.

15. Letter to a Pig

Animated Short Film (Tal Kantor, Amit R. Gicelter)

Your interest in enigmatic storytelling might help determine your appreciation of Letter to a Pig, an animated short written and directed by Tal Kantor about a Holocaust survivor describing the horrors he witnessed to a group of bored teenagers. Using some of the most innovative animation techniques I have ever seen by combining hand-drawn animation and live-action, Letter to a Pig is a haunting work. (Kantor explains the process of creating this work in better detail in this interview.) The sudden narrative change about halfway through the film is where I started to get a tad lost, but the mesmerizing effect of the mood of the film and what it's trying to say about memory, generational trauma, and revenge never ceased. 

14. Nimona
Animated Feature Film (Nick Bruno, Troy Quane, Karen Ryan, Julie Zackary)

The science fiction fantasy Nimona is a gorgeous and fun work of animation, and it's almost a miracle it ever saw the light of day given Disney's controversial alleged interference in the film almost being killed. (It was eventually released on Netflix.) Based on the 2015 graphic novel by ND Stevenson, it's the story of a knight voiced by Riz Ahmed on the run after being accused of murdering the queen. His only ally is a shapeshifting character playfully voiced by Chloë Grace Moretz with a penchant for chaos and mischief. What I liked most about Nimona is how the animation beautifully depicts a futuristic medieval world. (Surely fans of the two newest Legend of Zelda games will also appreciate this aesthetic.) It's a family-friendly film with a wide intended audience that should be seen by many.

13. May December

Writing (Original Screenplay) (Screenplay by Sammy Burch; Story by Samy Burch, Alex Mechanik) 

I wouldn't say there are spoilers below, but I truly feel that it's better if you know as little as possible about May December before you watch it, so if you haven't seen the film, I recommend skipping this write-up of it:

Watching May December is often an uncomfortable and visceral experience (in a good way). Loosely based on the Mary Kay Letourneau scandal, Natalia Portman plays a successful actress who is about to portray a character based on a woman played by Julianne Moore in an upcoming account of the latter's life-changing controversy. It's impossible not to take one's eyes of the two lead performances as they act opposite each other, though the performance everyone really seemed enamored by and was hoping to get a nomination was Charles Melton as Joe as the husband of Moore's character. This wasn't exactly Melton's breakthrough performance, but it did bring him a boatload of more attention, and he was the best part of May December. 

12. Four Daughters

Documentary Feature Film (Kaouther Ben Hania, Nadim Cheikhrouba)

Four Daughters is a documentary centering on a Tunisian single mother of four who has tried her best to raise her daughters through a variety of difficult circumstances. One mission she failed in, though, was shielding them from the rampant fundamentalism that swept through her country in the aftermath of the Arab Spring that deposed the country's dictator, Ben Ali. The consequences of that led to her two oldest daughters becoming radicalized and joining ISIS. Instead of presenting to the audience another talking-heads documentary of experts blandly describing problems and proscribing solutions, director Kaouther Ben Hania allows the mother and her two remaining daughters opportunities not simply to discuss what happened but to re-create it with the help of hired actors. Blurring reality with acting serves as kind of a cathartic group therapy for these three survivors, though these exercises may make some viewers uncomfortable and could take some getting used to. 

11. The ABCs of Book Banning

Documentary Short Film (Sheila Nevins, Trish Adlesic)

By now, everyone is familiar with the authoritarian attempts to challenge, restrict, or outright ban 2,500 books in the nation's schools. These books often feature Black, queer, and Jewish stories, as well as stories that most of us would find devoid of any controversy. The ABCs of Book Banning attempts to demonstrate the effect these bans have had on the group of people they are supposedly trying to protect: children. One flaw of the film is that it really preaches to the choir. Those who agree with the Nazi-like practice of banning books likely will not see this film or firmly shut their eyes and ears at it if they do watch it. While it is a very effective documentary, a more effective one would have found a more successful way to reach those who support these bans.

10. Red, White and Blue

Live Action Short Film (Nazrin Choudhury, Sara McFarlane)

Red, White and Blue is a potent story that simultaneously tackles two issues that will resonate with many people: economic struggles and abortion access. Starring Brittany Snow in a fantastic performance (one of her very best) about a single mother of two living paycheck to paycheck and facing an uphill battle at every turn, her life is made all the more difficult after an unwanted pregnancy. (Since the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court's Decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, Arkansas has had one of the strictest abortion bans in the nation.) Red, White and Blue is not a flawless film, with some scenes coming across as heavy-handed and some of the dialogue sounding superficial, particularly most of the lines given to the actors playing the children, but it is, in my mind, the best of the live-action short films that are nominated this year.  

9. Past Lives
Best Picture (David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler), Writing (Original Screenplay (Celine Song)

Past Lives is a romance film written and directed by Celine Song about two Koreans who were good pals in middle school, parted ways (she and her family moved to Canada—much like Song did in real life—while he stayed in Korea), then met again online after one searched for the other. A potential love affair blossoms, and the film becomes an apt vessel of the often painful coulda-shoulda-woulda hypotheticals that so many of us engage in when pondering (or tormenting) about whom he might have ended up with had things turned out differently. This has been a fan-favorite film since it debuted at Sundance last year. The two lead performances (Greta Lee and Teo Yoo) also do a commendable job as these two characters navigating complicated waters, which is only made trickier once Lee's character Nora falls in love with Arthur (John Magaro). Many fans were disappointed that Lee and Yoo were not nominated in their respective categories, but I would like to add further disappointment about how there has been no Oscar love for a similarly-themed Korean story called Return to Seoul, one of the best films of the decade.

8. American Symphony 
Music (Original Song) ("It Never Went Away" by John Baptiste and Dan Wilson) 

Surprisingly nominated for Best Original Song and not for Best Documentary (the movie won the Producers Guild Award for Best Documentary, but did not receive an Oscar nomination for the same category), American Symphony is a documentary that provides its viewers with an up-close view of the highs and lows that were John Baptiste's 2022. We see him honored with achievements like Album of the Year at the Grammys while also supporting his wife, Suleika Jaouad, in her fight against cancer. Baptiste is such a charismatic, sunny figure, but here we see all forms of him: melancholy, exhaustion, anxiety, fear, as well as triumph. This kind of opportunity—to see our heroes struggle and be in physical and mental pain—seems rare.

7. The Barber of Little Rock
Documentary Short Film (John Hoffman, Christine Turner)

The Barber of Little Rock so successfully and yet so succinctly visualizes the harsh reality of wealth gaps in the United States, particularly in Little Rock, Arkansas, where the documentary is filmed. Centering on Arlo Washington, a man who founded a barber shop college and the only Black-owned nonprofit loan program in the city, the documentary is a didactic exploration of equity, justice, the myth of the American Dream, and even things like "banking while Black." The Barber of Little Rock contains a potent combination of heartbreak and hope. You owe it to yourself to watch this film, which is available at the New Yorker's YouTube channel to watch for free. As you can see, it's my favorite short film of the year. 

6. The Zone of Interest

Best Picture (James Wilson), Directing (Jonathan Glazer), International Feature Film (United Kingdom), Sound (Tarn Willers, Johnnie Burn), Writing (Adapted Screenplay) (Glazer)

Hannah Arendt's term "the banality of evil," which she coined after viewing the 1961 trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann and noticing how terrifyingly normal he was, has become a predictable term when describing art that focuses on such infamous crimes. (It's worth noting, though, that many have taken issue with Arendt's term and how different, apparently, the real Eichmann was.) It was used to describe Ralph Fiennes' character as the brutal Nazi commander in Schindler's List; the scene that provoked this almost always was the one in which he complains about his orders to incinerate murdered Jews at an accelerated and (he believed) unattainable pace. The Jonathan Glazer-directed The Zone of Interest goes to pains to put Arendt's term to cinematic use. The film focuses on the real-life Nazi commander Rudolph Höss (Christian Friedel) and his wife, Hedwig (Sandra Hüller), and their attempt to create an idyllic home and upraising for their children. The unnerving reality is that their dream home in the East is literally right outside the Auschwitz camp. Most of the scenes are of the couple arguing or playing with their children or demonstrating their pride in the home they've built. What's truly powerful and unique about the film is that scenes inside the camp are never shown, though they weigh heavily over the presence of this story, much due to the talents of cinematographer Łukasz Żal, set designer Chris Oddy, and sound designers Tara Willers and Johnnie Burn, who are both nominated. Some viewers may be turned off by some things in the film, perhaps by its pace or just how disturbing these banal Nazis could be (chiefly Hedwig's sinister threats to the Jewish servant in their home). Others who are not bothered by those things will likely be captivated by the film and consider it unforgettable.

5. Killers of the Flower Moon 
Best Picture (Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas, Martin Scorsese, Daniel Lupi), Directing (Scorsese), Actress in a Leading Role (Lily Gladstone), Actor in a Supporting Role (Robert De Niro), Cinematography (Rodrigo Prieto), Costume Design (Jacqueline West), Film Editing (Thelma Schoonmaker), Music (Original Score) (Robbie Robertson), Music (Original Song) (Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People), music and lyrics by Scott George), Production Design (Jack Fisk, Adam Willis)

The epic tragedy Killers of the Flower Moon was hailed a masterpiece when it was released this past fall, though it underperformed at the box office. It's worth noting, however, that the film does have its detractors, especially those who feel the film should be scorned for portraying such violence as entertainment and for depicting Native people as victims. Regarding the nominations, it's a pity Leonardo DiCaprio was not nominated, for this is one of his best (if not his best) performances ever. As the slimy, reprehensible Ernest, a man involved in a scheme to murder the newly rich members of the Osage community, it's a performance unlike any of his previous ones. He often is willing to portray such foul characters when Martin Scorsese is the one directing him, as he did in films like The Wolf of Wall Street. Robert De Niro as the real-life mastermind of the conspiracy is also fantastic, as always, and while for a time it seemed like he might bag his third win, he faces too much stiff competition from younger actors who have waited their turn but still not won. (His recent court troubles likely further inhibit his ability to win.) Other elements are certainly worthy of praise, like the attention to detail in Jack Fisk's production design and Adam Willis's sets, as well as the awesome score by the late Robbie Robertson. But the one aspect of the film no one will forget is Lily Gladstone in a phenomenal performance as Mollie, and she could make history as the first Native American woman to win an Oscar. (She was also great in last year's The Unknown Country.)

4. Oppenheimer
Best Picture (Emma Thomas, Charles Roven, Christopher Nolan), Actor in a Leading Role (Cillian Murphy), Directing (Nolan), Actor in a Supporting Role (Robert Downey Jr.), Actress in a Supporting Role (Emily Blunt), Cinematography (Hoyte van Hoytema), Costume Design (Ellen Mirojnick), Film Editing (Jennifer Lame), Makeup and Hairstyling (Luisa Abel), Music (Original Score) (Ludwig Göransson), Production Design Ruth De Jong, Claire Kaufman), Sound (Willie Burton, Richard King, Gary A. Rizzo, Kevin, O'Connell), Writing (Adapted Screenplay) (Nolan)

It does not require a heightened inclination towards risky bets to bet on Oppenheimer being the big winner of the night. From the moment it debuted back in August, it was hard not to see it as the runaway favorite for awards season. It makes sense that Oppenheimer is the frontrunner. Its main competitors (Barbie and Killers of the Flower Moon) peaked quite early, it was the best-reviewed drama of the year as well as the best-reviewed wide-release film, and it has also raked in over a hundred awards, far surpassing its main rivals: The Holdovers, Barbie, Killers of the Flower Moon, Poor Things, and Anatomy of a Fall (which have all won over twenty). The film checks a lot of boxes for Oscar votes: It's an art-house drama that also brought in a ton of money with an A-list cast and a household-name director; other than Barbie (whose same-day release as Oppenheimer proved fortunate for both films), no other film of the year permeated pop culture so widely and successfully. The film contains Robert Downey Jr.'s best performance ("unrecognizably subtle," he joked), and other members of the cast (mainly Cillian Murphy as the title character) are phenomenal. My current prediction is that Oppenheimer will win at least seven Oscars. As for my personal feelings of the film, I was not in love with it like I hoped I would be. I appreciate its epic scope, yet I found myself growing wearisome of its convoluted non-linear structure. My patience with the overly intense storytelling seemed to be tested here. (Did we really need scenes of Oppenheimer as a university student?) I would not vote for this to win the top prize on Oscar night, but I wouldn't be angry if it won.

3. Poor Things

Best Picture (Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone) Directing (Lanthimos), Actress in a Leading Role (Stone), Actor in a Supporting Role (Mark Ruffalo), Cinematography (Robbie Ryan), Costume Design (Holly Waddington), Editing (Yorgos Mavropsaridis), Makeup and Hairstyling (Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier, Josh Weston), Music (Original Score) (Jerskin Fendrix), Production Design (James Price, Shona Heath, Zsuzsa Mihalek), Writing (Adapted Screenplay) (Tony McNamara)

Adapted from Alasdair Gray's 1992 novel, Poor Things is an epic, erotic feminist reworking of the famous Frankenstein story dipping its toes in a variety of different genres: comedy, drama, romance, fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Sometimes it tries a little too hard, but the look on the whole (especially the pastel painting visual effects and the Victorian sets) is unlike just about any other film. Mark Ruffalo (sounding like a combination of Jack Sparrow, Ringo Starr, and I'm not sure who else) as Duncan is stupendous. He and the lead (Emma Stone as Bella, the re-animated woman on a journey of liberation) have never been better, though it's a shame Willem Dafoe, in one of his finest performances as a scarred and eccentric surgeon who re-animates Bella, is not joining them, for it's also one of his best. It seems the discourse over the sex scenes, which many might found gratuitous (one couple when I viewed it at the cinema got up and walked out about halfway through when it seemed there would be no let up of them), but they didn't bother me, for the most part, and I tend to be on the side that says most sex scenes and nudity are unnecessary in movies. For her bravery, convincing accent, and complete command and buy-in of all her scenes, it makes sense that Stone is one of the frontrunners this year, and she won the Golden Globe, Critics' Choice Award, and BAFTA, among others.  

2. Anatomy of a Fall
Best Picture (Marie-Ange Luciani, David Thion), Actress in a Leading Role (Sandra Hüller), Directing (Justine Triet), Film Editing Laurent Sénéchal), Writing (Original Screenplay) (Triet, Arthur Harari)

Given how crowded the field for Best Actress has been this season, it's almost a miracle that Anatomy of a Fall was nominated at all. But after winning the Palm d'Or, two Golden Globes, and a host of other trophies, how could it not have a presence at this year's Oscars? In the end, the film earned a surprising four nominations. What's equally surprisingly is this film was not France's nomination for International Feature Film; this seems puzzling, as it would have likely been the frontrunner. (Instead, France chose The Taste of Things, which I have not yet seen, but as of this writing, it is currently the tenth-highest rated film of last year according to Rotten Tomatoes.) As disappointed as I am that Margot Robbie was not nominated for her performance in Barbie, I was thrilled when the incomparable Hüller was, as she gives yet another flawless performance. (This is just one of two Best Picture nominees she is in. She was also in The Zone of Interest.) It's a pity that her young co-star, Milo Machado Graner as the main character's son, was not nominated, as everyone who saw the film was raving about his performance, but it was a super-crowed field for Best Supporting Actor, and the Academy undeniably has a bias against younger actors, with Jacob Tremblay and Brooklyn Prince not being nominated for Room and The Florida Project, respectively, demonstrating that this fact is self-evident. As a film, while Anatomy of a Fall may have the occasional pacing issue, it really shines in that it rejects a more Hollywood approach to sub-genres like murder mysteries and courtroom dramas, shunning hyperbolic dialogue and manipulative musical arrangements in favor of naturalism best seen in many European classics. 

1. The Holdovers
Best Picture (Mark Johnson), Actor in a Leading Role (Paul Giamatti), Actress in a Supporting Role (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), Film Editing (Kevin Tent), Writing (Original Screenplay) (David Hemingson)

I really enjoyed watching The Holovers, the Christmas story of an unlikely trio spending their winter break alone but together on a prep school campus. This film, I believe, will become just as recognized as a Christmas classic as many of the other famous ones, up there with It's a Wonderful Life, The Bishop's Wife, and The Shop Around the Corner. From the moment The Holdovers finished, I knew Da'Vine Joy Randolph would be the winner; she's that good in the movie. (She also sings her heart out as Mahalia Jackson in Rustin.) So, too, is Paul Giamatti. He has rarely given a bad performance (with The Amazing Spider-Man 2 being the only example presently coming to my mind), and this, in his role as an authoritarian, boring, paternalistic, curmudgeonly teacher whom none of the students like, is his very best. He occasionally overdoes things just a tad in that Paul Giamatti way, rapidly spewing out some percolating diatribe before erupting in volatile anger, but it mostly works perfectly here. One particular scene I enjoyed is the clip that's constantly played in the promotional material for this film: In the scene, Giamatti's character, a Scrooge-like teacher who relishes being a jerk to his students, has kept them before winter break for one last class to return their essays, which most of them bombed. One student who failed says out loud that he does not understand, to which Giamatti (as Paul Hunham, the teacher) replies with biting sarcasm, "That's glaringly apparent." After the student puts on his best sad-puppy defense-mechanism face and exclaims that he can't fail this course, the reply is equally brutal: "Oh, don't sell yourself short, Mr. Kountze. I truly believe that you can." There is, however, redemptive qualities to him, as most Christmas stories require. The Holdovers is definitely the movie I would vote for for Best Picture if I were a member of the Academy. It's not simply the best of the nominees, but it was the best film of last year (and likely one of the best of the decade). 

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