Welcome to this special edition of "Ranked", where I ranked this year's Best Picture nominees from worst to best.
N/A: I'm Still Here:
Regrettably, I haven't able to catch this one yet and at this late stage of its theatrical run, will probably be reduced to waiting until it arrives on Netflix in the spring. Despite this, I'll be rooting like hell for it to take out Emilia Perez in the Best International Feature race.
9.Emilia Perez:
For the second straight year, Netflix picks up the honor of having the Best Picture nominee that is the worst of the bunch by a considerable margin. Emilia Perez isn't just completely insensitive to the plight of trans people and anyone in Mexico that has endured the pain of someone they know disappearing at the hands of the cartels, it's a garbage musical with a comically unfocused plot, bizarre tonal shifts and songs that are so bereft of excitement or life that it would be easy to question whether or not the songwriters even wanted to be a part of such an abhorrent project. Shoutout to the Brazilian social media sleuths who unearthed the dozens of cartoonishly racist tweets that star Karla Sofia Gascon has posted over the years that immediately halted its surging Best Picture campaign after Gascon insulted I'm Still Here star Fernanda Torres in an interview. You'll forever be heroes in my book.
Grade: D
8.The Brutalist:
Brady Corbert's historical epic about a Hungarian architect (Adrien Brody) who immigrates to America after the end of World War II accomplishes a few things that I didn't think were possible in film. 1.Making a 3+ hour film that feels rushed and underdeveloped by absolutely speed running through the second half of the film after taking great care in setting everything up in the first half. 2.An American writer/director who was born in the late 80's finding a way to insert himself via a prominent subtext about the importance of artists being granted full creative control on their projects into a story about a fucking Holocaust survivor struggling to assimilate to a new country after being forced from his home by Hitler. 3.An alleged throwback to Hollywood's glory days of making movies for adults by adults that treats its audiences like they're fucking 8 years old by delivering its messages about the facade that is the American dream, America's failure to live up to its promise of being an accepting land of opportunity for anyone that sets foots on its shores and the power that the rich have over the poor in an insultingly obvious manner. At least the performances and production design are good!
Grade: C
7.Nickel Boys:
Look, I can't pretend for even a fraction of a second that I fully understood the purpose behind all of the creative choices RaMell Ross makes in Nickel Boys. With that being said, the film's daringly experimental storytelling/visual approach along with the gut-wrenching true story about two black teens' (Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson) experiences at a Florida reform school during the final years of Jim Crow-era America that all of these avant-garde filmmaking techniques were applied to are too powerful for me to not respect.
Grade: B
6.Wicked:
Outside of a rough first act that had me questioning why the fuck I had trekked out to the theater to see it; I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Wicked. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are outstanding as the two unlikely friends turned reluctant enemies who go onto become the most two powerful witches in Oz, Jon M. Chu does a nice job of handling the film's massive scope without losing sight of the intimate emotional moments that drive the story and the excellent final act that culminates with Erivo's show-stopping performance of "Defying Gravity" sets up the sequel perfectly.
Grade: B
5.Conclave:
Hiding a trashy airport paperback thriller about a group of catty, chain-smoking divas backstabbing each other for 2 hours inside of what appears to be a prestige drama centered around the election of a new Pope is one of the funniest Trojan Horses I've ever encountered in my life. The reactions that the anti-woke crowd have had to the ending has only made it even funnier. I still like the idea of the movie more than I like the movie itself, but maybe that will change with a rewatch.
Grade: B
4.Dune: Part Two:
Nearly a year after its release, I'm still a tad underwhelmed by Dune Part: Two. As stunning as Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi epic manages to be during its spectacle-driven action beats, the sheer size of its universe and the wall that vastness puts around its many characters prevent the big emotional moments from landing with the universe-altering significance that they're intended to.
Grade: B
3.A Complete Unknown:
While calling it subversive would be a stretch, outstanding performances from Timothee Chalamet, Monica Barbaro, Edward Norton and Elle Fanning, electrifying musical sequences and James Mangold's clear reverence for the musicians at the center of its story allow A Complete Unknown to eviscerate the staleness that often plagues music biopics.
Grade: B+
2.The Substance:
Seeing The Substance vying for Best Picture is such an awesome surprise. Coralie Fargeat's sophomore feature is about as disgusting and uncommercial as a horror movie can possibly be and yet, it's blunt commentary on female beauty standards and career-defining performance from Demi Moore as an actress-turned-television fitness instructor who turns to the titular drug that uses the host's DNA to spawn a younger version of themselves (the similarly great Margaret Qualley) after being fired from her show on her 50th birthday for being "too old" has allowed it to resonate with viewers that would typically want nothing to do with a hard-R satirical body horror movie. Hopefully the embrace of The Substance will lead to more elite horror movies being recognized at the Oscars.
Grade: A-
1.Anora:
Regardless of whether or not it takes home the Best Picture statue on Sunday night, Anora will be the winner in my heart. Indie stalwart Sean Baker has been building his entire career towards making a raw, painfully human movie that so deftly threads the needle between comedy, chaos and tragedy while Mikey Madison gives the kind of towering powerhouse performance as Brooklyn stripper Anora "Ani" Mikheeva that transforms actors into legends.
Grade: A
No comments:
Post a Comment