Opinion by Matt Bailey
Yes, I know no one really cares about the Oscars anymore (happening this Sunday, btw) unless you’re some kind of insider, cinephile, pre-Gen Z, et al. person. But I happen to be two of those aforementioned things, as well as a teacher of Film Studies, so here are my thoughts for you.
You don’t care? Stop reading here and go back to your 30-second, omnipotent-algorithm, force-fed garbage “content.” Hard feelings.
First of all, I should say, I haven’t seen all ten of the films nominated for Best Picture. But I’m at 60%, which counts as a “pass” nowadays anyway… So here goes.
The four I haven’t (yet) seen are possibly a giveaway to my tastes and, in no particular order, are:
Frankenstein: It’s on Netflix (problematic) and just seems all “vibes over narrative” from the preview… I’ll get around to it, possibly on a Saturday morning when my 12-year-old kid isn’t shouting in the background playing FIFA on the PlayStation. But I already kind of know the story, so I’ve been hesitant to take the 2 ½ hour-long plunge with this one.
F1: I honestly couldn’t care less about guys driving fast in circles. People who are really into cars and their associated machinery are people I try to avoid. I love Brad (Tyler Durden is a dreamboat), but I just don’t care about the topic. Maybe I’ll get around to this one… but with some resistance.
Sentimental Value: The whole “crap/absent, emotionally distant father making amends” trope isn’t particularly appealing to me as a possibly crap/absent, emotionally distant father. I have nothing against these types of films, and I strongly like the actors in this one, so it’s on my mental “to-watch” list.
Hamnet: Now, here’s one I do actually want to watch… if not just for the hype of Jessie Buckley’s performance. I’m a big fan of Paul Mescal (ever since those GAA short pap photos), and having a film about Shakespeare with two white-hot Irish actors is my “cup of tea.” This was just released on one of the multiple streaming services I subscribe to, so it will be watched ASAP.
Now for the ones I have watched… in no particular order (yet—you’ve got to keep reading, bud).
Train Dreams: This was a powerful little philosophically infused film about an exceedingly “normal” person… the “little people” as the true driving force of history and not the kings and queens we know about.
I was moved, which is not easy to do in my middle age. Large parts of this film have no dialogue. It’s all just like life, and the things that happen are completely outside of the control of the main character. Instead, things happen to him, and his reactions are really the driving force of the “plot,” if indeed there is one. It was giving heavy notes of Absurdism… Camus’ opening line in The Myth of Sisyphus (“There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide”) resonated for the whole runtime for me. It’s very good and a creepingly and consistently thoughtful piece of work.
Bugonia: There certainly seems to be a theme/tone in many of these films. The dark, disturbing, and alien nature of those who run the world (see: Epstein files, etc.) is a throughline in many of these pictures. It’s definitely not something that I disagree with.
This film was a true “black dramedy” in all the senses that the genre label can mean. Jesse Plemons’ performance was out-of-this-world and, of course, Emma Stone (collaborating again with the director, Yorgos Lanthimos, for a fifth time). The ending of this film goes off the rails in the best way. It was bleak and poignant stuff.
Sinners: I’m all here for the merging and exploration of the commonalities between African-American and Irish culture, two things that have been and continue to be formative in my life. This is a stylish, beautiful (cinematography dub prediction), and fun film. Michael B. Jordan smashes the performance(s) (and is my prediction for Best Actor).
The transcendent power of music/art as an idea is something that I wholeheartedly agree with, and the music scene in this really hit. The vampire stuff, despite being very From Dusk Till Dawn, was excellent. Overall, I really enjoyed this film. Did it change my existence? Absolutely not… but it’s a helluva cool movie, and that’s something film needs to be again.
The Secret Agent: This was my most recent watch and really left a mark on me. Film, when it works best, acts as a time and space machine, and this one really does that—dropping you down in mid-1970s Brazil in a way that’s almost unmatched in recent memory. Wagner Moura absolutely killed this performance in powerful ways, almost beyond explanation.
There’s just something so deep and claustrophobic about this film that holds you in its palm and lets you know what it feels like to exist in a military dictatorship. The abrupt ending was jarring and not something I particularly enjoyed, but reflecting on it, that’s often the way—and probably the only way—to end this powerful, transformative film.
Marty Supreme: Timmy, Timmy, Timmy… perhaps the last true movie star around is excellent in this. The marketing for this film was some of the most fun and engaging stuff that’s possibly ever been done and will set the standard going forward.
The character is a straight-up douchebag, but he’s played with a charm, charisma, and joie de vivre that’s somehow hard not to admire. A film about a table tennis player should not necessarily be this fun or have this much to say about the so-called “American dream.”
The Safdie brothers’ split is good for us as viewers, since theoretically now we’ll get two people making the anxiety-ridden, awesome 80s-synth-music-soaked, high-energy, relentless, New York odyssey-inspired films that they do so well. The non-actors acting in this totally works, and this film is undeniably cool (whatever that means these days).
One Battle After Another: So much interesting stuff happening with this one. PTA is the vanguard of the revolution, working within the system against the banal tripe that typically gets put out by Hollywood. He’s definitely a true auteur and is doing some of the most interesting and inspirational stuff today. I’d still take There Will Be Blood as my fave of his, but this is a close silver.
The performances are unhinged and magnetic in the best way. Sean Penn is a madman, and he’s just one of all the actors performing at the tippity-top level. Leo crashing out because he forgot the password over the phone is pure gold. Teyana Taylor and Chase Infiniti should soon become household names.
There’s been plenty of recent criticism about this film using left-wing revolutionary ideology as mere context. Some of this is fair, in my opinion, but this doesn’t stop it from being the best film of last year and an easy-peasy prediction for Best Picture at the 98th Academy Awards. The betting markets, at the time of writing, agree with this assessment. Sinners could pull a big upset, but it would be an upset that would not be valid, in my “humble” opinion. Viva la Revolution!
