Sunday, March 15, is the Oscars.
The Oscars are the annual award ceremony recognizing cinematic achievements across numerous categories. This year will mark the 98th Oscars, and I am eager to see who or what the winners will end up being.
There’s one category in particular that is incredibly contentious and has sparked a lot of controversy in the past: the Best Picture award.
The final award presented at the ceremony, the Best Picture, is one of the highest honors in film. It highlights one movie as the overall best motion picture of the year.
Now, I must admit, I was never THAT invested in the Oscars. Of course, I loved seeing the occasional short-form content clips that would pop up on my socials about the Oscars.
Not sure what was so different about this past year, but my investment in the Oscars peaked out of nowhere. And, with this, I have made it my goal to watch every single one of the Best Picture nominees.
The nominees for this year are “The Secret Agent,” “Bugonia,” “Sinners,” “F1,” “Frankenstein,” “Hamnet,” “Marty Supreme,” “One Battle After Another,” “Train Dreams” and “Sentimental Value.”
Out of the nominees, I have seen five. Obviously, in true Spectator fashion, I thought, why not write an article on the five and tell you which one I predict will win.
Of course, I still need to watch all 10 nominees to give an accurate prediction, but I don’t think my prediction is going to change.
The first nominee I watched was Guillermo Del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” which I saw last fall.
Flashback to one of my favorite classes in high school, AP Literature. “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley was one of the first books we read, and I was enthralled. From the narrative structure to the gothic, sci-fi themes the book captures, I am a huge fan.
I was ecstatic when it was announced that Del Toro was doing an adaptation.
Starring Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as his Creature, the film captures the gloomy and dark aesthetics of the original book.
However, some parts of the dialogue and acting fell flat for me. In particular, I felt, at times, Isaac’s acting was a bit off and unnatural.
Moving on to my least favorite film out of the five, Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme.” I watched this while on winter break.
God, this movie just pissed me off so bad.
I was initially intrigued by this film because of Timothee Chalamet’s absolutely wild marketing strategy for this film. A mock-Zoom session, orange blimps and collaborating with internet celebrity Druski are just a taste of the “meta” marketing strategies.
I went into this film only knowing it was about table tennis. I left the movie with a rage comparable to ice cream falling off a sugar cone.
Chalamet plays the protagonist of the film, the ego-centered a-hole Marty Mauser. Ambitious to become a world champion of table tennis, Mauser stops at nothing to achieve his dreams. This captures the film’s popular slogan, “dream big.”
What really set me off was just how egotistical Mauser was. And, I get it, part of the film is that Mauser IS rude, but it got to the point where it turned into a nonsensical mess for me.
I’m skipping the next nominee because, spoiler alert, it’s my prediction for Best Picture. Given this, we are moving on to Joseph Kosinski’s “F1.”
This was the second film I watched with the intention of watching all the nominees, and it makes sense because this film is outside my usual taste.
My coworker described this film in the best way possible: “It’s just a dad movie.”
And, they would be right. My dad would love this movie.
Following Brad Pitt’s character, Sonny Hayes, as he returns to the world of F1 racing, the film is flashy, climatic and fast (pun-intended). That said, the movie feels very surface-level to me; it was something for entertainment but definitely not depth. And I do love a film with depth.
Moving on to my most recent watch, Yorgo Lanthimos’ “Bugonia.” Woah. Wild. Alien.
To preface, I have not seen any of Lanthimos’ other works but have heard they are quite postmodernist. With this in mind, I was looking forward to a surreal movie before bed.
And surreal it was. The film has a beautiful aesthetic to it, with stunning visuals and angles rich in symbolic meaning.
The film’s two lead actors, Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons, are incredible. I was wrapped up in every single scene they were in. The interactions between the two showcased their acting skills splendidly.
Although visually incredible and artistically invigorating, the film lost me with its ending. It felt a bit too on the nose for me. Ambiguity never hurt anybody, is all I have to say.
Now, time for the grand reveal of what I think will win Best Picture: Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners.”
Holy. Moly. This movie genuinely changed my life.
Vampires, music and incredibly historically relevant depictions of the Deep South during Jim Crow; this film is absolute cinema.
The film follows Smoke and Stack, both played by the talented Michael B. Jordan, as they return from living in Chicago to the Mississippi Delta in hopes of opening up a juke joint. On the first and only night of their juke joint, vampires attack.
Everything about this movie is perfect. I genuinely cannot think of a single flaw within this body of work. Visually stunning and having an incredible supporting cast, what really heightened this film for me was the music.
One music scene in particular moved me to tears while watching, that being where the character Sammie sings “I Lied To You.” Wow. The symbolic meaning, the visual meaning of this song and scene are phenomenal. This scene alone is reason enough to give “Sinners” the Best Picture.
I plan on watching the rest of the nominees soon, but “Sinners” is on top without a doubt.
Hirata can be reached at [email protected].
