2024 BEST PICTURE NOMINATION MINI-REVIEWS
With the 2024 Academy Awards telecast right around the corner, I thought I’d take a quick moment to share some brief thoughts on the ten films nominated for Best Picture. Some of these movies certainly got more press than others but it should be noted that, with the exception of ANATOMY OF A FALL, all of these nominees played theaters right here in town so that’s certainly something to celebrate;
AMERICAN FICTION (R)
After penning a book as a joke, a disenchanted novelist finds himself enjoying the same exploitive success he’s fought so hard to stand up against in this beautifully acted satire from director, Cord Jefferson. Jeffrey Wright, Oscar nominee Sterling K. Brown, Tracie Ellis Ross, Erika Alexander, and the entire ensemble are in top form in an entertaining film based on the beloved book of the same name.
Grade: B (Available to rent on Apple TV and Amazon Prime)
ANATOMY OF A FALL (R)
Justine Triet’s compelling slow burn finds a woman (brilliantly played by Oscar nominee Sandra Huller) fighting for her innocence after becoming a suspect in a trial that involves the death of her own husband. Rather than turning into a substandard courtroom drama, this film intricately transforms into a story of a crumbling relationship and a hard look at mental health. As stellar as Huller and the direction is here, kudos are also in order to a phenomenal Milo Machado-Graner as a young boy caught in the middle of a very tough (and emotional) situation. ANATOMY OF A FALL is complex, nuanced, and patient in all the right ways.
Grade: B+ (Available to rent on Apple TV and Amazon Prime)
BARBIE (PG-13)
As if anyone cares what I have to say about 2023’s biggest and most beloved movie. After all, I’m not necessarily the target audience. The truth is, I didn’t love this cinematic take on the beloved Mattel doll but I certainly didn’t hate it. I appreciated certain aspects of it and had a blast with the production design. Also, I thought Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling were entertaining. That said, I thought it was rather long and the jokes were more miss than hit. In the end, though, it brought a lot of folks back to theaters and that’s a huge win for those of us who love the theatrical experience.
Grade: C+ (Available to stream on Max)
THE HOLDOVERS (R)
This drama starring an outstanding Paul Giamatti as a cranky New England school professor who bonds with a bitter student (wonderfully played by newcomer Domic Sessa) and a grief-stricken cook (an award-worthy Da’Vine Joy Randolph) over the course of the holidays has been described as cozy. I agree! In fact, by way of a trio of stellar performances and nuanced writing and directing, Alexander Payne’s latest effort emerged as my favorite movie of the year.
Grade: A- (Available to stream on Peacock)
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON (R)
The legendary Martin Scorsese returned with a 3 ½ hour epic starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone in a drama revolving around the mysterious deaths of the Osage people in Oklahoma, circa the 1920s. This is a handsome production worthy of seeing but I found myself admiring it more than loving it. This is a dark aspect of history that I wasn’t completely aware of and I certainly welcome being enlightened but I would have preferred more celebration of the Osage people to go along with all of that darkness. In the end, though, I certainly recognize that this is the story that Scorsese wanted to tell.
Grade: B (Available to stream on Apple TV)
MAESTRO (R)
This is a tough one. As expertly crafted as this labor of love is on a technical level, and as outstanding as Carey Mulligan is as one of the world’s most supportive and understanding wives (this was one of my very favorite performances of 2023), something is simply amiss in this sophomore effort from director Bradley Cooper. Great use of Leonard Bernstein music throughout and Cooper digs deep to bring this legendary conductor/composer to life, but MAESTRO is oddly paced and with the notable exception of Mulligan’s heartbreaking turn, I didn’t always connect to it on an emotional level. This is a movie that’s worth seeing but I greatly preferred Cooper’s take on A STAR IS BORN.
Grade: C+ (Available to stream on Netflix)
OPPENHEIMER (R)
Christopher Nolan’s complicated and multi-layerd look at the brilliant mind behind the atomic bomb features a riveting turn by Cillian Murphy in the title role as well as award-worthy performances from the likes of Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt. OPPENHEIMER is a sprawling, provocative, and lyrical deep dive into quite a polarizing real-life figure. With this all-star epic, the celebrated Nolan appears to be drawing from the likes of Oliver Stone’s JFK and the end of the result was one of the most mesmerizing films of 2023.
Grade: A- (Available to stream on Peacock)
PAST LIVES (PG-13)
Celine Song’s subtle drama PAST LIVES finds childhood friends from South Korea reuniting many years later and while these two individuals have gone on to lead very separate lives, they are still connected by way of a deep bond that even they can’t always entirely explain. In lesser hands, this could have been a cheesy melodrama but in the capable hands of Song and leads Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, and John Magaro, PAST LIVES emerges as an often bittersweet, painfully honest, and multi-faceted look at friendship, love, and destiny.
Grade: B+ (Available to rent on Amazon Prime and Hulu)
POOR THINGS (R)
Emma Stone is a force to be reckoned with in Yorgos Lanthimos’s strange and politically-charged POOR THINGS, a sumptuously crafted movie that, at its heart, recalls THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN and EDWARD SCISSORHANDS. The production design, cinematography, and score in this picture are off-the-charts awesome. Likewise, POOR THINGS boasts a fantastic supporting cast (most notably Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo.) Interestingly enough, it should also be noted that there are elements in this movie that actually reminded me a little of BARBIE, albeit, POOR THINGS is considerably more sexual in nature. In the end, this one was a little too politically charged for my tastes but, it’s still well worth seeing for the performances and technical attributes alone.
Grade: B (Available to rent on Amazon Prime)
THE ZONE OF INTEREST (R)
A harrowing, shocking, and profoundly upsetting experience punctuated by naturalistic (and understated) performances and stellar sound design. This is a slow burn but the fashion in which THE ZONE OF INTEREST juxtaposes the idyllic life of a German family with the absolute horrors awaiting those on the other side of the fence, is haunting in a way I won’t soon forget and it all culminates in an ending that reminded me of the unsettling closing moments of the exceptional documentary, THE ACT OF KILLING. This understated and altogether artistic endeavor from UNDER YOUR SKIN director Jonathan Glazer, is unlike any other holocaust movie I’ve ever seen.
Grade: B+ (Available to rent on Amazon Prime and Apple TV)
The Oscar telecast will take place on Sunday, March 10th on ABC.
