For the first time since the Academy Awards expanded to ten Best Picture nominees, I’ve seen all of nominees before the awards ceremony. There is a common theme that connects all of these films: family and community. Here are my feelings in order of preference.
One Battle After Another. Paul Thomas Anderson has never made a bad film, He's made lesser PTA films, but I can't say they're ever been bad. What's remarkable about his career is he's never made the same movie twice. One Battle After Another is no exception. At its core, the movie is about a father's love for his daughter. The father, “Bob,” is played by Leonardo DiCaprio, adding to his long list of great acting achievements. The daughter, “Willa,” is played by another newcomer, Chase Infiniti, who is so fierce in on screen that she goes toe to toe with DiCaprio, Regina Hall and Sean Penn (at his menacing best) and never flinches. Teanna Taylor also commands the screen, as Bob’s lover and Willa’s mom. There many layers to One Battle After Another, and Anderson never loses the narrative thread. He’s written and directed another classic, and he should finally win that allusive Oscar this year, possibly two or three (he wrote, directed and co-produced the film). The moment when Bob and Willa reunite continues to bring tears to my eyes each time I watch it.
Hamnet. I'm not an enthusiast of stories set in the 1600s. They just don't stir my interest. However, Chloe´ Zhao's heart wrenching film immediate drew me in. It begins with the undeniable chemistry between Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley, who portray fictionalized versions of William Shakespeare and his wife, Agnes. Shakespeare may be the draw, but this is Agnes’ story, and Buckley’s opportunity to shine. The role showcases Buckley’s incredible range, portraying a loving mother and all that a woman must endure to love and raise children. Buckley’s performance is one for the ages. Her joy makes you tear up; her pain rips your heart out. A pleasant surprise was how this movie embraces the mysteries of nature, hinting at the supernatural on spiritual.
Train Dreams. This one is a visual poem with a grounded performance by Joel Edgerton as Robert, a logger in the pacific Northwest intrigued by the mysteries of the world around him. Orphaned at a young age, as an adult he experiences true love (a wonderful Felicity Jones), tragedy and eventually peace in this incredible odyssey of a man's life. The script and music are wonderful (stick around for the Nick Cave nominated song over the end credits), but it's the Adolpho Veloso stunning cinematography (also nominated) that will stun you. I wish Netflix had put this one back in theaters. It deserves to be seen on a big screen.
Sentimental Value. By then end Joachim Trier drama, I was wiping my eyes. It helped that the person sitting next to me, an elderly woman with a wheelchair, wanted to sit and discuss the movie after the credits. Sometimes it’s the theater experience, as much as the film itself, that makes everything wonderful. Stellen Skarsgård stars as Gustav, a revered film director who returns to the lives of his estranged daughters. He has a new screenplay and is trying to get a movie made. Skarsgård is excellent in the type of prickly role he’s mastered after four decades. Elle Fanning portrays a Hollywood starlet who wants to help Gustav get his film made. Gustav didn’t write the script for Fanning’s Rachel Kemp, but her clout will entice financiers. Gustav actually wrote the script for his daughter, Nora, a stage actress of avant garde plays. Nora is played by the revelatory Renate Reinsve, whose breakthrough role was in Trier’s previous film, The Worst Person in the World. The main cast is rounded out by Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, as Nora’s younger sister, Agnes. Sentimental Value’s most effective scenes involve Nora and Agnes, in particular an intimate conversation they have at the end of the film. The two actresses are so perfect in that scene, I dare you not to be moved.
F1. F1 is a Jerry Bruckheimer spectacular a big as they come. And yet, Joseph Kosinski directs as he did in his previous movie, Top Gun: Maverick, as a character driven story inside of a big budget race car movie. Tight script, great cast, great needle drops and above all, my favorite film editing of the ten. Nominee Stephen Mirrione’s work could have felt generic and over the top (you know, like some Michael Bay movie), but his work here is perfectly paced and thrilling, F1is further proof that blockbusters don't have to be stupid.
Bugonia. I’m not the right audience for Yorgos Lanthimos’ films, besides Bugonia, the Greek director was also behind recent Best Picture nominees The Favourite and Poor Things. His movies tend to leave me feeling cold. Emma Stone appeared in all three, was nominated forThe Favourite and won Best Actress for Poor Things. She’s nominated for Best Actress for Bugonia. Lanthimos and Stone are beloved by the Academy; perhaps because their films together are so bold and divisive. The real star of Bugonia is Jesse Plemons, that great character actor who has stolen scenes in films by Spielberg and Scorsese and was particularly brilliant in the comedy Game Night. Plemons is Teddy, a conspiracy theorist who believes that aliens have infiltrated the elite of the world and communicate through their hair. Together with his neurodivergent cousin, Don (a heartbreaking Aidan Delbis), Teddy kidnaps Stone’s Michelle Fuller, the CEO of a major pharmaceutical company, and promptly shaves her head. From there, things go even further off the rails. Initially, Plemons plays Teddy like a psychotic, but you come around to his side, as Michelle becomes more cunning and manipulative. Bugonia is weird and uncomfortable and ultimately a shock to the system. Plemons makes it worth checking out. This year’s Best Actor category is stacked; in a lesser year he would have earned his second Academy Award nomination.
Marty Supreme. By the time Marty Supreme ended, I was angry with Josh Safdie and Timothée Chalamet. Marty Supreme (the character) is a ping pong champion whose one goal in life is to be the best, no matter what it takes, no matter whom he hurts or brings down in his pursuit. I wish I was simplifying, but this message about the pursuit of greatness grows wearisome after 100 minutes, and there are still 50 more to go! Chalamet is relentless, seemingly drawing influence from De Niro is Raging Bull and The King of Comedy, and DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street. It’s a fine, desperate performance, but it still made me want to hurl my popcorn at the screen. Marty’s barrage of bad behavior, plus the scripts “and this happens” isms wore me down. But hey, I know A LOT of people who love this film and can’t wait to revisit it. Maybe I’m out of touch on this one.
Frankenstein. Guillermo del Toro has been aching to adapt Mary Shelly’s oft made book for years. Technically, there are some brilliant set and wardrobe designs. And Jacob Elordi is great as the monster (especially for taking on the role so late in production). Other than that, the script was all over the place, trying too hard to make us understand why Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) is such a shitty person. I didn’t care; I was bored instead.
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