Every year, my husband Chris and I try to watch all of the AMPAS Best Picture Nominees and review, rate, and rank them prior to the awards ceremony, which is on March 2nd this year. Here are this year's nominees.
Note: The movie title/headings will take you to the IMDb page for that movie.
Anora
This looks to be a Cinderella story of sorts - a young sex worker in NYC marries the son of a Russian oligarch. IMDb lists the genre as a comedy/drama/romance, and it echoes Pretty Woman at least a little (though perhaps less Pygmalion and more Cinderella). Looks to be mostly in English, though there's some Russian and Armenian thrown in. Available on streaming.
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The Brutalist
I think this is the obligatory WW2-era period drama and it is about a Holocaust survivor who comes to the US to make a new life for himself. Hits close to home for me, for it takes place in 1947, the same year my own family immigrated here, but instead of designing oil drills as my grandfather did, the main character designs buildings. It's currently in a limited theatrical release and not yet available for streaming. (I'll update this entry when I find out when/where it can be streamed.)
Note: Brutalism is an architectural style that arose after WW2 that, according to Wiki, is characterized by "minimalist constructions that showcase the bare building materials and structural elements over decorative design."
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A Complete Unknown
A Complete Unknown is a biopic and drama about Bob Dylan's early days when he left Minnesota and moved to NYC and became a famous musician and songwriter. Feels like it's in the vein of last year's Elvis, though I assume with a happier ending. This one is tailor-made for me since Joan Baez is one of my favorite singers, and she's a character in the movie, and Dylan's lyrics are pretty GOAT-y. ACU joins several documentaries and the experimental 2007 biopic I'm Not There about the life of the singer-songwriter. Currently in theaters. (I'll update this entry when I find out when/where it can be streamed.)
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Conclave
Conclave (short for papal conclave, the ritual used to select the Catholic's highest leader) is a conspiracy thriller, starring (among others!) the fantastic Ralph Fiennes, Stan Tucci, and John Lithgow. What more can someone want from a movie: papal conspiracies, arcane and ancient rituals, and scandals? Available for streaming.***
Dune: Part Two
This is the sequel to Dune, which was nominated for ten Academy Awards (winning six) in 2022. It's a rare honor when a sequel is also nominated for the highest honors (The Godfather, anyone?), and part two was nominated for five Oscars, including best cinematography and visual effects. This is the only nominee that I've already seen (what can I say? We are a household of SciFi nerds). Available for streaming.***
Emilia Pérez
It's hard to know what to write about this woman-centered movie, though I'll say this: It's not every day that one has the opportunity to use "gender reassignment surgery" and "Mexican drug cartels" in the same sentence. Even IMDb has some difficulty with it, listing its genre as: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Thriller, and ... Musical (because, of course). The cast list includes the always wonderful Zoe Saldana and Karla Sofia Gascon, the first openly trans woman to be honored by a whole bunch of nominations and awards (including at Cannes). This appears to be mainly in English, with some Spanish and a little bit of French thrown in. Available for streaming on Netflix.***
I'm Still Here/Ainda Estou Aqui
It's a little odd to call a movie that takes place during my lifetime a "period piece," but there you have it. The film is based on a true story from Brazil in the early 1970s of how the military dictatorship made a politician disappear and how his wife and their children were forced to forge a new life, never knowing what had happened to him. This will be my first Portuguese-language film. Currently, in a very limited number of theaters. (I'll update this entry when I find out when/where it can be streamed.)
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Nickel Boys
Nickel Boys is an adaptation of Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer-winning novel of the same name, which was itself inspired by the corrupt and notoriously abusive (and sometimes murderous) real-life Dozier School for Boys. One of the things I learned back in grad school is that American History curriculum rarely goes into detail about the sheer numbers of civil rights abuses of BIPOC folks (and the paradigm is usually, "things were bad then, but we fixed them.") While this movie is about a fictional school, it is based on a real-life juvie where black boys were abused and sometimes murdered for the better part of a century. Movies like this one have the unique ability to reach people in a way that curriculum boards cannot. It is currently in a limited number of theaters. (I'll update this entry when I find out when/where it can be streamed.)
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The Substance
This Drama/Horror/SciFi movie is about an aging TV star who goes to dramatic lengths to preserve her youth. It's based on an - ahem - substance that creates a younger and better version of oneself through genetic manipulation. It appears to be a commentary on society's absurd beauty and aging standards. I like the idea of this movie, but I suspect it will squick me, and I may end up noping right out of this one. Available for streaming.
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Wicked
Technically, this entry should be named Wicked: Part One. It's a movie based on the musical Wicked which is based on the novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which is based on L. Frank Baum's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which was adapted into a 1902 stage musical and the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz. A convoluted and wonderfully imaginative (and sometimes creepy) set of books, musicals, and movies. I've only ever seen the 1939 movie (and incidentally, I played in the pit orchestra for the stage version performed at the Boonville Community Theater in the 1980s). For whatever reason, there was some controversy surrounding this movie, but it mostly seemed ridiculous and overblown because this looks wonderful, every bit as wonderful and imaginative as its predecessors. Available on streaming.
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I'm looking forward to watching (or in the case of Dune, re-watching) all of the movies, except perhaps The Substance, since I'm not generally a fan of horror, and it looks creepy as hell. But I loved Silence of the Lambs and Alien, so hopefully, I'll love this horror movie as well.
Enjoy!
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