Sunday, March 27, 2022

The Sammys 2022: My picks after a much too long Oscar season


"Dreams make good stories, but everything important happens while we are awake."


We are finally at the end of a very long Oscar season. I'm personally not a fan of when the race stretches into the depths of March. It feels too far removed from the moment. But it has I suppose, allowed me time to catch up on more films. And honestly, after this year, getting through them was a challenge.


We were all dealing with a pandemic which continued to upend our lives, taking away activities and socializing. And a year ago, I lost my partner Josh to cancer. After such devastation, its hard to dive into films, especially heavy, artsy fare which typically dominates with critics. Most nights I only had the energy to watch old game shows or reality television. Something mindless. But not all was lost.


It was an incredible year for movie musicals. Steven Spielberg defied the odds to reshape West Side Story in ways surprising and relevant. tick, tick...Boom! was a smart, slick, adaptation with a career-best performance from Andrew Garfield. And don't tell anyone, but I tend to prefer In the Heights to Lin-Manuel's Hamilton, but for as much as I love the stage show, I love the movie even more for for the ways it improved character arcs and brought a fantastical storytelling method to the presentation. And then there's Encanto (does Lin even sleep?) which is so joyous and moving and delightful. I've watched it about 5 times and I show no signs of slowing down with repeat viewings.


Mass is the best film you may not have seen. Oscar voters should be embarrassed that they didn't vote for it. The acting is absolutely unparalleled. It was unfairly labeled as a "difficult watch" when in reality, Fran Kranz has crafted a surprisingly cathartic experience for anyone who has ever experienced profound loss. As I continue to ruminate on my own grief and attempt to piece my life back together, it's this movie I think about most of all.


And then there were the films that transported me to other worlds. The Green Knight is a gorgeous fever dream of high fantasy. Last Night in Soho is a haunting dive into psychological mind games. Joel Coen presented the umpteenth version of Macbeth, but it is, I think, the version that best translates the hypnotic and surreal power of the stage play to the screen. Kathryn Hunter is terrifying nightmare fuel, Denzel Washington allows the language to flow effortlessly from his lips, Frances McDormand begins subdued but slowly reveals her cunning, and the architecture of the scenic elements keep all the players out of time and space...as if trapped in a unending dream.


And then there is Dune. That Denis Villeneuve was allowed to make a big budget studio film with so little dialogue, with such a complex plot and lore, with a massive production that dwarfs anything else seen on film this year, from a book long thought impossible to adapt correctly...it is a miracle that Dune exists. It is a miracle that the film is so exceptional. It's a film that you must allow to wash over you. It demands that we sit, quietly in the dark, shut out the notifications and obligations of our everyday life, and give in to the power of epic storytelling. I cannot wait to see how Villeneuve finishes this story. I cannot wait to dive back into this world time and time again. It is the film experience that will define this year long after the dust settles on the Oscar race.


Without any further rambling, my personal picks for the years best:


Best Picture 

10. Spider-Man: No Way Home

9. The Green Knight

8. Encanto

7. CODA

6. tick, tick...Boom!

5. The Tragedy of Macbeth

4. In the Heights

3. Mass

2. West Side Story (runner-up)

1. Dune (WINNER)


Best Director

Jon Chu, In the Heights

Joel Coen, The Tragedy of Macbeth

Lin-Manuel Miranda, tick, tick...Boom!

Steven Spielberg, West Side Story (runner-up)

Denis Villeneuve, Dune (WINNER)


Lead Performance

Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye (runner-up)

Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog

Andrew Garfield, tick, tick...Boom! (WINNER)

Alana Haim, Licorice Pizza

John Benjamin Hickey, Sublet

Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos

Frances McDormand, The Tragedy of Macbeth

Emma Stone, Cruella

Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth

Rachel Zegler, West Side Story


Supporting Performance

Willem Dafoe, Spider-Man: No Way Home

Ariana DeBose, West Side Story (runner-up)

Robin de Jesus, tick, tick…Boom!

Ann Dowd, Mass

Mike Faist, West Side Story

Kathryn Hunter, The Tragedy of Macbeth

Jason Isaacs, Mass

Troy Kotsur, CODA

Olga Merediz, In the Heights

Martha Plimpton, Mass (WINNER)

Anya Taylor-Joy, Last Night in Soho


Best Ensemble 

CODA (runner-up)

The Humans

Mass (WINNER)

The Tragedy of Macbeth

West Side Story 


Original Screenplay

Being the Ricardos

Last Night in Soho 

Licorice Pizza

Mass (WINNER)

Sublet (runner-up)


Adapted Screenplay

CODA

Dune (WINNER)

In the Heights

West Side Story (runner-up)

tick, tick…Boom!


Animated Feature

Encanto (WINNER)

Flee (runner-up)

Luca

The Mitchells vs. The Machines

Raya and the Last Dragon


Cinematography

Dune (WINNER)

The Green Knight

The Power of the Dog

The Tragedy of Macbeth (runner-up)

West Side Story

Film Editing

Dune

The Green Knight

Last Night in Soho (WINNER)

tick, tick...Boom! (runner-up)

West Side Story


Production Design

Dune (WINNER)

Last Night in Soho

Nightmare Alley

The Tragedy of Macbeth (runner-up)

West Side Story


Costume Design

Cruella (WINNER)

Dune

Last Night in Soho (runner-up)

Nightmare Alley

Spider-Man: No Way Home


Hair and Makeup

Cruella (WINNER)

Dune

The Eyes of Tammy Faye (runner-up)

The Green Knight

The Suicide Squad


Score

Dune (WINNER)

Encanto

The Green Knight (runner-up)

The Power of the Dog

Raya and the Last Dragon


Song

“The Family Madrigal” from Encanto

“Surface Pressure” from Encanto (WINNER)

“Waiting on a Miracle” from Encanto

“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Encanto (runner-up)

“No Time to Die” from No Time to Die


Sound

Dune (WINNER)

In the Heights (runner-up)

No Time to Die

A Quiet Place Part II

Spider-Man: No Way Home


Visual Effects

Dune (WINNER)

Eternals

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Spider-Man: No Way Home (runner-up)



TOTAL WINS

7 - Dune

3 - Mass

2 - Cruella

2 - Encanto

1 - Last Night in Soho

1 - tick, tick…Boom!