We are days away from the 92nd Academy Awards, which could make history in a number of ways. 1917, Ford v Ferrari, The Irishman, Jojo Rabbit, Joker, Little Women, Marriage Story, Once Upon A Time.... In Hollywood and Parasite are in the fight for the most prestigious award of the lot, Best Picture, and as ever, there's a lot riding on it.
Find below my ranking of the nine nominees and share your ranking by following this link and helping with my Best Picture voting system experiment. Check back for more predictions over the coming days.
Find below my ranking of the nine nominees and share your ranking by following this link and helping with my Best Picture voting system experiment. Check back for more predictions over the coming days.
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Nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Screenplay.
I have exhausted myself for over five months explaining my feverish rage towards Quentin Tarantino's ninth feature, Once Upon A Time... in Hollywood. A supposed "love letter" to the "golden age" of the filmmaking capital, Hollywood takes Sharon Tate's tragic murder and uses her as a glorified accessory in her own story, reframing it as a tale of a white, male-dominated Hollywood with the distinct feeling of 'ah, wasn't it better this way?'. In tandem with the extreme violence levelled almost squarely towards the few women in the story, the cartoony depiction of Bruce Lee, and Brad Pitt's Cliff Booth, who is either a wife-killer or a symbol designed by Tarantino to epitomise the danger that allegations can have on a man's career, these horrible elements and more all come together to form something far more intrinsically repugnant. And, on top of that? It bored me to tears. To quote Natalia Kills in a career-ending tirade, "I personally found it absolutely artistically atrocious".
I have exhausted myself for over five months explaining my feverish rage towards Quentin Tarantino's ninth feature, Once Upon A Time... in Hollywood. A supposed "love letter" to the "golden age" of the filmmaking capital, Hollywood takes Sharon Tate's tragic murder and uses her as a glorified accessory in her own story, reframing it as a tale of a white, male-dominated Hollywood with the distinct feeling of 'ah, wasn't it better this way?'. In tandem with the extreme violence levelled almost squarely towards the few women in the story, the cartoony depiction of Bruce Lee, and Brad Pitt's Cliff Booth, who is either a wife-killer or a symbol designed by Tarantino to epitomise the danger that allegations can have on a man's career, these horrible elements and more all come together to form something far more intrinsically repugnant. And, on top of that? It bored me to tears. To quote Natalia Kills in a career-ending tirade, "I personally found it absolutely artistically atrocious".
8. Joker
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Nominated for 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay.
The real clowns are the Academy voters who made Todd Phillips' "gritty" character drama this year's most-nominated film. Comic's most infamous villain gets his own origin story in Joker, and it has all the depth of a teaspoon; with a screenplay woefully lacking in complexity, and utterly careless in the way it provokes a discussion it lacks the intelligence or sophistication to answer, Phillips could not have been more ill-equipped to handle the subject matter and content. The only award Joker really deserves (beyond Razzies) is something to acknowledge how well it did in duping people into believing that this was a film of actual substance.
The real clowns are the Academy voters who made Todd Phillips' "gritty" character drama this year's most-nominated film. Comic's most infamous villain gets his own origin story in Joker, and it has all the depth of a teaspoon; with a screenplay woefully lacking in complexity, and utterly careless in the way it provokes a discussion it lacks the intelligence or sophistication to answer, Phillips could not have been more ill-equipped to handle the subject matter and content. The only award Joker really deserves (beyond Razzies) is something to acknowledge how well it did in duping people into believing that this was a film of actual substance.
7. The Irishman
Nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor x2, Best Adapted Screenplay
Martin Scorsese's latest is a career retrospect, a cinematic greatest hits album of sorts that touches upon a number of facets in the filmmaker's extensive filmography. As such, it makes sense that The Irishman is long - but perhaps not three and a half hours long, of which I felt all 209 minutes. While not poorly-made by any stretch of the imagination, if The Irishman hasn't compelled you an hour or soin, it's a long movie to endure and the general indifference I felt towards the story - it's not considering anything new or particularly exciting - couldn't be salvaged by decent performances from the trio.
6. Ford v Ferrari (or Le Mans '66)
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Nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture.
This year's "glad to be nominated" nominee, Ford v Ferrari, is the most quintessentially "dad movie" going, so it stands to reason why the mostly white, mostly old and mostly male Academy threw it a bone. James Mangold's moto racing drama is a largely unremarkable picture with little on its mind, weakened further by a disappointing performance from the usually reliable Christian Bale. But Matt Damon is solid, Noah Jupe continues to rise through Hollywood and as a piece of entertainment, maybe it has its merits. It's not for me but I get the appeal.
This year's "glad to be nominated" nominee, Ford v Ferrari, is the most quintessentially "dad movie" going, so it stands to reason why the mostly white, mostly old and mostly male Academy threw it a bone. James Mangold's moto racing drama is a largely unremarkable picture with little on its mind, weakened further by a disappointing performance from the usually reliable Christian Bale. But Matt Damon is solid, Noah Jupe continues to rise through Hollywood and as a piece of entertainment, maybe it has its merits. It's not for me but I get the appeal.
5. Jojo Rabbit
Nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Jojo Rabbit is utterly heartwarming one minute, painfully sobering the next, and despite initial concerns and a little unevenness throughout, Taika Waititi's "anti-hate satire" is a mostly successfully, carefully-rendered juggling act. Marrying off-kilter hilarity with deeper, thoughtful thematic musing, Jojo boasts arguably Scarlett Johansson's best performance to date, with similarly great work from Roman Griffiths Davis, Thomasin McKenzie and a scene-stealing Archie Yates. It's still a few drafts away from being perfect but it'll be difficult for Jojo not to win you over. It very well could be a dark horse in this Best Picture race.
Jojo Rabbit is utterly heartwarming one minute, painfully sobering the next, and despite initial concerns and a little unevenness throughout, Taika Waititi's "anti-hate satire" is a mostly successfully, carefully-rendered juggling act. Marrying off-kilter hilarity with deeper, thoughtful thematic musing, Jojo boasts arguably Scarlett Johansson's best performance to date, with similarly great work from Roman Griffiths Davis, Thomasin McKenzie and a scene-stealing Archie Yates. It's still a few drafts away from being perfect but it'll be difficult for Jojo not to win you over. It very well could be a dark horse in this Best Picture race.
4. 1917
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Nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.
Sam Mendes' 1917 combines a relatively straightforward narrative with technically ambitious storytelling to deliver a powerful and immersive war epic. Awe-inspiring visuals achieved throughout its technical brilliance - careful direction, masterful cinematography and seamlessly editing - frames the genre in a new and exciting way. Powerful, moving and overwhelming in the best sense imaginable, with a star-making turn from George MacKay, 1917 is a marvellous piece of filmmaking.
Sam Mendes' 1917 combines a relatively straightforward narrative with technically ambitious storytelling to deliver a powerful and immersive war epic. Awe-inspiring visuals achieved throughout its technical brilliance - careful direction, masterful cinematography and seamlessly editing - frames the genre in a new and exciting way. Powerful, moving and overwhelming in the best sense imaginable, with a star-making turn from George MacKay, 1917 is a marvellous piece of filmmaking.
Nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay.
Raw, delicate and profound, Marriage Story is as captivating as it is heartbreaking, with Noah Baumbach's partly-autobiographical effort guaranteed to break your heart and mend it a little. Thanks to his emotionally-rich and powerfully authentic screenplay, met so impressively by the beautifully matched performances of Adam Driver (a textured turn with a cool composure punctuated by moments of anger, passion and sadness) and Scarlett Johansson (whose stirring and soulful work radiates joy and sorrow in equal measures). Who knew pain and melancholy could result in such a rewarding cinematic experience?
2. Little Women
Nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay.
If I were voting with my heart, Greta Gerwig's timeless Little Women would top my ballot, this or almost any year. A genuinely gorgeous piece of filmmaking on every single level, Gerwig has so impressively imbued new life into Louise May Alcott's classic novel, crafting an adaptation with emotion, purpose and meaning for a new generation. In the biggest strokes and smallest flourishes - from the colour grading to the framing, the score to the pacing, and very importantly, the structure - Greta's work explores themes of childhood and sisterhood, time and legacy, with her skill as both a writer and director, thriving alongside the talents of her stunning cast, immortalising an already immortalised story in its own right. Little Women in the warmest hug of a film, and had earned a special place in my heart.
If I were voting with my heart, Greta Gerwig's timeless Little Women would top my ballot, this or almost any year. A genuinely gorgeous piece of filmmaking on every single level, Gerwig has so impressively imbued new life into Louise May Alcott's classic novel, crafting an adaptation with emotion, purpose and meaning for a new generation. In the biggest strokes and smallest flourishes - from the colour grading to the framing, the score to the pacing, and very importantly, the structure - Greta's work explores themes of childhood and sisterhood, time and legacy, with her skill as both a writer and director, thriving alongside the talents of her stunning cast, immortalising an already immortalised story in its own right. Little Women in the warmest hug of a film, and had earned a special place in my heart.
1. Parasite
Nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature.
If not now, when? As foolish as it may sound, Best Picture means more than simply being the most well-made film of the year. All good winners of the Academy's highest accolade, in my opinion, should be saying something about the world we live in; while it isn't exactly necessary, a film's social value makes a winner stand out. Parasite, Bong Joon-Ho's social satire on class (we won't say more, as it's best appreciated blind), touches upon so many genres, incorporates so many tones and speaks so deeply about the way we interact as humans, that it's something of a miracle that it works - nevermind as masterfully and as confidently as it does.
Joon Ho's layered screenplay and precise direction, the jaw-dropping production design, combined excellence of its well-dialled ensemble and razor-sharp editing have created something truly special in Parasite.
Never has a foreign language film been so accessible; never in my recollection has a movie earned such adoration across the board; and never has a film with this much hype actually lived up to it. It's unlikely that a film as wildly entertaining, emotionally stirring, thematically sharp and just as consistently brilliant as Parasite will grace our cinemas for some time, so we should embrace it now.
The Academy has the opportunity to introduce one of the very greatest films of the century into a most elite club on Sunday. In the words of Bong Joon-Ho (and his interpreter for the award trail, Sharon Choi), let's hope that voters can overcome the "the one-inch barrier of subtitles" and give the year's best picture the Best Picture trophy.
If not now, when? As foolish as it may sound, Best Picture means more than simply being the most well-made film of the year. All good winners of the Academy's highest accolade, in my opinion, should be saying something about the world we live in; while it isn't exactly necessary, a film's social value makes a winner stand out. Parasite, Bong Joon-Ho's social satire on class (we won't say more, as it's best appreciated blind), touches upon so many genres, incorporates so many tones and speaks so deeply about the way we interact as humans, that it's something of a miracle that it works - nevermind as masterfully and as confidently as it does.
Joon Ho's layered screenplay and precise direction, the jaw-dropping production design, combined excellence of its well-dialled ensemble and razor-sharp editing have created something truly special in Parasite.
Never has a foreign language film been so accessible; never in my recollection has a movie earned such adoration across the board; and never has a film with this much hype actually lived up to it. It's unlikely that a film as wildly entertaining, emotionally stirring, thematically sharp and just as consistently brilliant as Parasite will grace our cinemas for some time, so we should embrace it now.
The Academy has the opportunity to introduce one of the very greatest films of the century into a most elite club on Sunday. In the words of Bong Joon-Ho (and his interpreter for the award trail, Sharon Choi), let's hope that voters can overcome the "the one-inch barrier of subtitles" and give the year's best picture the Best Picture trophy.