Been going down a rabbit hole of what might win and what other people are predicting. People trying to show this or that stat to prove what might win. A real mess this year. But I said I'd rank the movies today so let me get on that.
Unranked - The Substance.
9. Emilia Perez - Yes, there are fans of this movie. I've seen some people sincerely praising it but I don't get what those people are seeing. This film is a mess. It's the worst nominee since Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Can't believe anybody thought it deserved to win awards and that it still is predicted to get two in Best Supporting Actress and Best Song. And, on that subject of song, how...? I get that Song can often be an underwhelming and weak category most of the time but to think any of the "songs" in Perez are Oscar Worthy is just inconceivable to me. I did a rare thing last year of a double feature at the cinema. Saw Mufasa and then Wicked. Both of these are considered musicals. Yet, it immediately hit me from the beginning of Wicked how much better the music and songs were compared to anything I'd heard from Mufasa earlier which shows the importance of the music for a musical to make it a success. It was my first time ever hearing anything from Wicked but I get why it's been a big broadway hit. Yet, even with Wicked as a nominee and showing what a real musical should look like, somehow, Emilia Perez was the frontrunner in nominations and had two songs from the movie nominated in Best Song. Just shaking my head how when it's clearly out of its league in that category which seems like it should be pretty important criteria for a musical like movie. Where's La La Land? It understood the assignment for making a musical. Anyways, there's lots of other stuff I could get into about how this movie just befuddles me but I'm moving on.
8. Nickel Boys - Some people really like this movie but it just didn't resonate for me. At times, the director threw in and included various random images and I just didn't always get what the purpose was of them or how they connected to what was happening or aiding the story in any way. They became a distraction. Likewise, it felt like it was trying to mimic the Terrence Malick style of almost free association or random included shots and moments of life but it's just not the same. Not that I always think Malick bats 100 with his movies. The first person perspective wasn't that big a deal. I've seen some comments from people that they felt it was pretentious or distracting but it didn't bother me. That said, I also don't think it did anything to make the story better or more impactful. In fact, to me, it kind of gave away the ending and where the story was possibly going. Sure enough, it ended the way I suspected. Ultimately, it just felt like a story that's been told and seen before and all the first-person and random images were just a way of trying to dress it up to make it seem like a fresh story. Instead, I think the direction works against the film and it ends up rather forgettable. I keep forgetting it's one of the nominees.
7. A Complete Unknown - Now it gets tough. Maybe I should rank this higher. Maybe it's in the right spot. But this is where the conflicted feelings begin for me and this years nominees. I've never been a big Bob Dylan fan. Can't say I've ever really sought out his music or felt any strong attachment to his songs whether performed by him or someone else. However, I did appreciate learning a bit about his early beginnings and gaining some musical knowledge and understanding about why he was such a force in music during the early 60s. It was well acted. I liked a few performances in the movie and I felt it was one of the better films to end successfully of this year's nominees while others sort of tripped up at the ending. Yet, I also thought it was a sort of drab and dingy movie to look at due to the location and settings of the film and I just realized it isn't a movie I've thought about at all since seeing it late January. Because of that lack of staying power, it's why I'm rating it lower but it's a perfectly fine movie. I wouldn't call it great but it's still pretty, pretty, pretty good. I don't know why I'm now quoting Larry David for this review.
6. Conclave - Maybe I need to watch this movie again to re-evaluate it. I think I went in expecting something else which caused some disconnect from how it ended up playing out as well as I think it is one of the movies I feel trips up at the end. Yet, it's also got great performances. There was definite enjoyment I was having throughout. I liked the cinematography and the score stood out at times. There's a couple lines and moments that have stuck with me. I was just expecting more of a thriller and conspiracy/murder mystery plot but that's not what this story is like or about. So, realizing that near the end sort of threw me and then some final info just also seemed sort of sprung on the audience without really having much to say about the implications and maybe too late to now be coming up in the story. It's well made and overall there's a lot to like about it yet it's not something I feel particularly enamored by. However, since seeing it and thinking about it all to judge it on its own merits and the story it actually is telling instead of what I was expecting, my opinion of it has gone up more than when I first walked out of the theatre. Just not enough to feel it is anything above the middle of the pack in the nominees.
5. I'm Still Here - One of the few nominees that got me to tear up and feel some emotion. I didn't realize it was based on a real life story. It's biggest flaw is that I feel it runs out of steam and sort of goes on too long. Still, the beginning in relating a happier time and then how that happiness is ended is compelling and a strong start to the film. It's just that after a pretty sold first half, it feels like it starts to spin its wheels and becomes more meandering of a story. I do think it successfully conveys its point about the psychological effect a disappearance has on those left behind. Based on that and it succeeding in engaging me on an emotional level, I'm putting it here even though a restlessness also grew within me in the latter part of the film.
4. Dune Part 2 - Dune, Dune, Dune. I don't know what to do with you but that's how I feel with most of the nominees. Coming into 2024, it was my most anticipated movie at the time. Did I like it? Yes, I suppose so. On an intellectual level, there's a lot about the movie I admire. It just ultimately left me cold. I've tried to figure out why that is. I've wondered if it is because I've seen the David Lynch version about 8 years ago and so, at times, it was sort of like it was just refreshing my memory of the story and plot points I'd known about but kind of forgotten. Was it just the amount of beige in the film with so much sand and rocks that the look and cinematography of the film just felt unchanging and monotonous? At least, that's sort of what I felt after first seeing it. This sense or idea that visually it just felt barren in ways. The trailers made it seem like there'd be a big battle with the sandworms involved but it didn't really pan out that way. The ending battle / raid isn't really that big of a conflict and after all the build-up to this fight, it didn't seem to last that long and just sort of devolves into a knifefight between two characters.
Villeneuve talked about his goal with this movie when it came out, saying, "“When Frank Herbert wrote Dune and when the book came out, he felt that the readers misunderstood him. People saw Dune as a celebration of Paul Atreides, but for him he wanted the book to be a warning regarding messianic figures. In order to correct that perception, [Herbert] wrote Dune: Messiah that is almost like an epilogue. Chani, in the second part of the book, kind of disappeared in Paul’s shadows. The character becomes less interesting. But I thought there was a strong opportunity there to create a character there who would give us a new perspective on Paul, in order to get closer to Frank Herbert’s intentions." In that regard, he nailed it. I think we take on this view and the audience is taking in these events from her perspective and thinking. By the end, when Paul takes the war to the stars and betrays Chani's love by taking the Emperor's daughter for a wife to consolidate his power, we've lost the belief in Paul that he's got the fremans best interests at heart. Yet, it also ends in a way that feels like this is act 2 of a 3-act play. Villeneuve has talked about doing one more follow-up by adapting Dune:Messiah and with the way Dune ends, it almost seems necessary to do because it just doesn't feel fully resolved which may be part of why I walked away from this recognizing that it was technically great but wondering if I really liked it or not. I guess it engaged me mentally but not emotionally is the best way to sum it up.
3. Anora -
2. The Brutalist -
1. Wicked -
Topic: Khushrenada's Annual Oscar Thread. 2025 Edition. (Read 15631 times)
