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!
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