2023 Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee - Top Gun: Maverick

 

This is another 2023 Best Picture nominee that I didn't write much about at the time.  It's the only one of the nominees that I'd seen prior to the AMPAS releasing the list of movies released in 2022 that were nominated for Best Picture. 

Was it a good movie? My first thought is that it's a fun movie but not Oscar-worthy.  Of the 10 movies nominated, I ranked three of them below Maverick.

I enjoyed it a great deal, seeing Mav and Ice again and the many great flying scenes.  It was less homoerotic than the original, I suppose, and I was glad the love interest was age-appropriate for once.  Decent acting, more humor than the original, and it looked great.  I missed seeing Goose's wife Carole (Meg Ryan) though, as well as Charlie (Kelly McGillis), Maverick's love interest from the original movie.

I do have to relate a funny conversation that occurred when Chris and I watched the movie:

Scene: the characters are talking about the teeny-tiny target that will be impossible to hit with a fighter plane and we have the following conversation:

Me: "it's not impossible--"
Chris (*slightly* before me): "It's not impossible. I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back home!"
Me: Goddamn it!!! You said it first!!!"
Both of us: [dissolve into laughter].

It's great being married to a fellow nerd.  (To the non-nerds out there: It's a Star Wars reference.)

(Pithy Reviews; and Rankings of 1 out of 10 nominees):

• Top Gun: Maverick (Very enjoyable but not really Oscar material; Cathy: 1, Chris: 1)

Unranked:

• All Quiet on the Western Front
• Avatar: The Way of the Water (not yet seen)
• The Banshees of Inisherin 
• Elvis
• Everything Everywhere All at Once 
• The Fabelmans 
• Tár
• Triangle of Sadness
• Women Talking 

- Originally written November 1, 2022, updated February 2024

2023 Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee - The Fabelmans

I can't believe I didn't write anything last year about The Fabelmans, especially given it was one of my favorites of the 2023 Best Picture nominees. I called it "excellent" last year, but Chris didn't like it nearly as well as I did and rated it merely "good."

Acting, cinematography, writing - all of it was excellent.  But what really stood out, was the storytelling. The (semi?) autobiographical movie told the story of how a young artist became a great filmmaker, and the movie gave a peek into the sometimes troubled lives of the young filmmaker and his family. It also showed us what it was like for him behind the camera, how he told his stories.

As a wannabe storyteller myself, this movie gave me all the feels.

(Pithy Reviews; and Rankings of 6 out of 10 nominees):

• Elvis (Excellent movie with stellar acting, music and costumes; Cathy: 3, Chris: 1)
• Everything Everywhere All at Once (Excellent, beautiful, imaginative and utterly bizarre; Cathy: 2, Chris: 2)
• The Fabelmans (Good story about a storyteller; Cathy: 1, Chris 3)
• Top Gun: Maverick (Very enjoyable but not really Oscar material; Cathy: 4, Chris 4)
• Tár (Interesting topic, boring movie about a loathsome person. Only watched 60%; Cathy: 5, Chris: 5)
• Triangle of Sadness (Terrible, gross, and Cathy only watched half; Cathy: 6, Chris: 6)

Unranked:

• All Quiet on the Western Front (not yet seen)
• Avatar: The Way of the Water (not yet seen)
• The Banshees of Inisherin (not yet seen)
• Women Talking (not yet seen)

- Originally watched February 10, 2023, updated February 2024

2023 Academy Awards Best Picture Winner - Everything Everywhere All At Once

 

Chris's review: It is, so far, winning by a huge margin.

Cathy's review: Everything Everywhere is a total brain twister of a movie. I LOVED it. Added in 2024 from memory: gorgeous costumes, fantastic acting, imaginative, mesmerizing, wonderful special effects.

(Pithy Reviews; and Rankings of 3 out of 10 nominees):

• Everything Everywhere All at Once (Excellent, beautiful, imaginative and utterly bizarre; Cathy: 1, Chris: 1)
• Top Gun: Maverick (Very enjoyable but not really Oscar material; Cathy: 2, Chris 2)
• Triangle of Sadness (Terrible, gross, and Cathy only watched half; Cathy: 3, Chris: 3)

Unranked:

• All Quiet on the Western Front (not yet seen)
• Avatar: The Way of the Water (not yet seen)
• Elvis (not yet seen)
• The Fabelmans (not yet seen)
• The Banshees of Inisherin 
• Tár (not yet seen)
• Women Talking (not yet seen)

-Originally written January 28, 2023

2023 Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee - Elvis

Chris's comments: I think this one’s winning so far.

Cathy's comments: Damn. This was really, really good. And Austin Butler did a spectacular job in the title role. Added in 2024 (from memory): Excellent acting, excellent sound/music/singing, and excellent costume design, though Tom Hanks looked weird in a fat suit.

(Pithy Reviews; and Rankings of 5 out of 10 nominees):

• Elvis (Excellent movie with stellar acting, music and costumes; Cathy: 2, Chris: 1)
• Everything Everywhere All at Once (Excellent, beautiful, imaginative and utterly bizarre; Cathy: 1, Chris: 2)
• Top Gun: Maverick (Very enjoyable but not really Oscar material; Cathy: 3, Chris 3)
• Tár (Boring movie about a loathsome person. Only watched 60%; Cathy: 4, Chris: 4)
• Triangle of Sadness (Terrible, gross, and Cathy only watched half; Cathy: 5, Chris: 5)

Unranked:

• All Quiet on the Western Front (not yet seen)
• Avatar: The Way of the Water (not yet seen)
• The Banshees of Inisherin (not yet seen)
• The Fabelmans (not yet seen)
• Women Talking (not yet seen)

- Originally written February 6, 2023

2023 Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee - Women Talking

Women Talking was a beautiful movie. Thought-provoking, and honest and … a complex and very human story. Definitely not a feel-good movie, though.

The filmmakers made two interesting decisions: they don’t depict the violence (only the aftermath, and that generally only in glimpses), and the men (with only two exceptions) were basically not even a part of the story. Exception one: a sympathetic male schoolteacher who has seen a bit of the world, and two - innocent little boys who are damaged by the situation (though differently) just as the women are.

These decisions allowed the viewer to concentrate on the women and their horrifying experiences, but even more, it allowed us to really listen to them.

(Pithy Reviews; and Rankings of 8 out of 10 nominees):

• Women Talking (Excellent and haunting; Cathy: 1, Chris 1)
• The Banshees of Inisherin (Excellent, beautiful, and a little surreal; Cathy: 2, Chris: 3)
• Elvis (Excellent movie with stellar acting, music and costumes; Cathy: 5, Chris: 2)
• Everything Everywhere All at Once (Excellent, beautiful, imaginative and utterly bizarre; Cathy: 4, Chris: 4)
• The Fabelmans (Good story about a storyteller; Cathy: 3, Chris: 5)
• Top Gun: Maverick (Very enjoyable but not really Oscar material; Cathy: 6, Chris: 6)
• Tár (Boring movie about a loathsome person. Only watched 60%; Cathy: 7, Chris 7)
• Triangle of Sadness (Terrible, gross, and Cathy only watched half; Cathy: 8, Chris: 8)

Unranked:

• All Quiet on the Western Front  (not yet seen)
• Avatar: The Way of the Water (not yet seen)

- Originally written February 25, 2023

2023 Academy Awards Best Picture - The Banshees of Inisherin

Banshees was really, really good. 

Great, even.  

I'm reading a book called The Secrets of Story, and the author says a good 2-hour movie (or book!) has a one-hour plot, and the rest of the space/time/story is filled with complex scenes of emotional baggage, irony, and personal relationships.  The Banshees of Inisherin is a PERFECT example of this.  It has a simple plot (a guy's best friend ditches him, and takes weird and drastic steps to ensure their friendship is over). 

The movie is slow (not boring; in fact, it's kind of mesmerizing) and chews over the various relationships (his sister, various animals, the local barkeep, the local cop, and his son) and the acting is beautiful and powerful and perfect, and the cinematography and scenery (Ireland at its most lovely) is gorgeous, all set in the spring of 1923 as the Irish Civil War is winding down.  

It's sad and sometimes tragic, occasionally darkly funny, weird, and so very ... human.  It's not the sort of movie I'll want to watch over and over, but my life is richer for having seen it.  Warning: the Irish brogue was a little thick at times, and you might want to turn on subtitles. I could understand it (mostly) but the subtitles helped.

Note: I think Banshees was the better movie, but I *liked* Fabelmans better.

(Pithy Reviews; and Rankings of 7 out of 10 nominees):

• The Banshees of Inisherin (Excellent, beautiful, and a little surreal; Cathy:1, Chris: 2)
• Elvis (Excellent movie with stellar acting, music and costumes; Cathy: 4, Chris: 1)
• Everything Everywhere All at Once (Excellent, beautiful, imaginative and utterly bizarre; Cathy: 3, Chris: 3)
• The Fabelmans (Good story about a storyteller; Cathy: 2, Chris: 4)
• Top Gun: Maverick (Very enjoyable but not really Oscar material; Cathy: 5, Chris: 5) 
• Tár (Boring movie about a loathsome person. Only watched 60%; Cathy: 6, Chris: 6) 
• Triangle of Sadness (Terrible, gross, and Cathy only watched half; Cathy: 7, Chris 7)

Unranked:

• All Quiet on the Western Front (not yet seen)
• Avatar: The Way of the Water (not yet seen)
• Women Talking (not yet seen)

- Originally written February 18, 2023

Does the movie deserve an Oscar? Or: Chris and Cathy review the Academy Award Nominees for Best Picture

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.  These aren't really predictions on which movie will win Best Picture, only which ones we think are best.

Notes: 

• The movie titles link to the IMDb page for the movie, and the rankings at the end of the line link to our review of it. 
• Starting in 2024, we used a rubric with weighted scores to determine rankings, rating 12 different aspects such as watchability, message, character/situation relatability, storytelling, acting/casting, pacing, themes and motifs, visual/sound design, and an appropriate ending using a 5 point scale so actual ties are unlikely.  In 2026, we added a new category: haunting our thoughts.
• In-Progress Rankings can change. As we work through and compare the movies, we sometimes change our minds about the scores we assigned the different variables, and that can move a movie up or down the list.
• The overall rankings may not match what is shown at the bottom of the individual reviews; the individual reviews represented how we felt right after seeing the movie. We both adjusted our scoring over time, and before publishing the final movie review, we went back through our scoring sheet and finalized everything.
• Winners are marked in bold.

2026 Final Rankings: Movie titles (Pithy Reviews; Individual rankings of 10 nominees):

Note: the order is alphabetical until we've seen a movie, at which point it moves up to a ranked list.  Here are my initial thoughts on this year's nominees, prior to seeing them. Here are my overall thoughts on the nominees after seeing them.

1. Sinners (Southern gothic vampires sing the Blues; Cathy: 1, Chris: 1)
2. Bugonia (Alien-hunting conspiracy theorists; Cathy: 5, Chris: 2)
3. Train Dreams (Dreamy old logger survives ... life; Cathy: 3, Chris: 3)
4. Hamnet (The Bard's wife; Cathy: 2, Chris: 5)
5. Winner: One Battle After Another (Daddy-Daughter Revolution; Cathy: 7, Chris: 4)
6. F1: The Movie (Mesmerizing Top Gun for Formula 1 Fans; Cathy: 4, Chris: 6)
7. The Secret Agent (Strange, sweaty movie about life in fascist Brazil; Cathy: 6, Chris: 8)
8. Frankenstein (Monster-'splaning; Cathy: 9, Chris: 7)
9. Sentimental Value (Slow-paced movie about a family of actors; Cathy: 8, Chris: 9)
10. Marty Supreme (Odious ping-pong hustler no one respects; Cathy:10, Chris:10)

2025 Final Rankings: Movie titles (Pithy Reviews; Individual rankings of 9 nominees):

Note: the order is alphabetical until we've seen a movie, at which point it moves to the top of the list, in ranked order.  Here are my overall thoughts on the nominees. 

1. A Complete Unknown (Super songwriter's origin story; Cathy: 1, Chris: 1)
2. Conclave (Absorbing conspiracy at the Vatican; Cathy: 2, Chris: 2)
3. Emilia Pérez (Stereotypes, redemption, and transition; Cathy: 3, Chris: 3)
4. Dune: Part Two (Best rendition of a classic SF novel; Cathy: 4, Chris: 4)
5. The Substance (Excellent horror movie ruined by ending; Cathy: 5, Chris: 5)
6. The Brutalist (Troubled architect explores the pitfalls of patronage; Cathy: 6, Chris: 6)
7. Wicked (Beautiful, yet boring; Cathy: 7, Chris: 7)
8. Winner: Anora (Steaming pile of говно; Cathy: 9, Chris: 8)
9. Nickel Boys (Civil rights meets a feverish collage of an arthouse film; Cathy: 8, Chris: 9)

Unranked:

• I'm Still Here/Ainda Estou Aqui (A Brazilian politician's wife makes a new life after her husband is disappeared in 1971; Not available on streaming before the awards were given out, and then we never got around to seeing it.)

2024 Final Ranking: Movie titles (Pithy Reviews; Individual rankings of 10 nominees):

1. American Fiction (Brilliantly ironic smart comedy; Cathy: 1, Chris: 4)
2. Past Lives (Excellent exploration of love and human connections; Cathy: 2, Chris: 3)
3. The Zone of Interest (Masterpiece of monstrous implication; Cathy: 3, Chris: 2)
4. Poor Things (Fantastic, filthy, feminist, Frankensteinian fairytale; Cathy: 6, Chris: 1)
5. Barbie (Spectacular and sly doll's-eye-view of womanhood; Cathy: 4, Chris: 6)
6. Winner: Oppenheimer (Important, long and explosive; Cathy: 5, Chris: 5)
7. The Holdovers (Very good teacher/student relationship story; Cathy: 7, Chris: 7)
8. Anatomy of a Fall (Beautiful courtroom drama; Cathy: 8, Chris: 9)
9. Killers of the Flower Moon (Important, badly-told story; Cathy: 9, Chris: 8)
10. Maestro (Gorgeous, well-acted, boring slog; Cathy: 10, Chris: 10)

2023 Final Ranking: Movie titles (Pithy Reviews; Individual rankings of 9 nominees):

We didn't use a rubric in 2023. Rather, Chris and I rated each movie individually, and I averaged the two to determine overall rank. If there was a tie, they are listed alphabetically. 

1. Women Talking (Excellent and haunting; Cathy: 1, Chris 1) 
2. The Banshees of Inisherin (Excellent, beautiful, and a little surreal; Cathy: 2, Chris: 3)
3. Elvis (Excellent movie with stellar acting, music, and costumes; Cathy: 5, Chris: 2)
4. Tie: 

• Winner: Everything Everywhere All at Once (Excellent, beautiful, imaginative, and utterly bizarre; Cathy: 4, Chris: 4)
• The Fabelmans (Good story about a storyteller; Cathy: 3, Chris: 5)

5. Top Gun: Maverick (Very enjoyable but not really Oscar material; Cathy: 6, Chris: 6)
6. Tie

• All Quiet on the Western Front (Beautiful, boring, and disconnected; Cathy: 7, Chris: 8)
• Tár (Boring movie about a loathsome person. Only watched 60%; Cathy: 8, Chris: 7)

7. Triangle of Sadness (Terrible, gross, and Cathy only watched half; Cathy: 9, Chris: 9)

Unranked:

• Avatar: The Way of the Water (not seen due to lack of interest)