The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the list of nominations for the 2023 Oscar Awards.
There were no surprises there - the Golden Globes pretty much predicts what the Academy is going to select. I am very interested to see if any of this year's noms will be on future Greatest Films of All Time lists. We have some time before that would happen, but I'm positive Everything Everywhere All at Once will be on the AFI list, at least.
For the best picture, Everything Everywhere All at Once shares the nomination list with All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar: The Way of Water, The Banshees of Inisherin, Elvis, The Fabelmans, Tár, Top Gun: Maverick, Triangle of Sadness, and Women Talking.
Of these, I think Everything Everywhere is going to win. A close second is The Banshees of Inisherin and Tár. Otherwise, Avatar: The Way of the Water will be the surprise win.
I will say that I am not usually that good predicting the winner, unless it's blatantly obvious.
I'm going to try to knock out these movies before the award ceremony on Sunday, March 12, 2023, starting with Top Gun: Maverick. I need a fun, nostalgic movie this weekend.
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There has been only one time that I watched every single Oscar Best Picture nominations before the award ceremony. It was 2018, and I was surprised by the majority of nominated movies.
The first movie I watched was Get Out (Director Jordan Peele), and while I thought it was an excellent movie, I did not expect it to take the top prize.
The last movie I watched - and I watched it the day of the Oscars in the early afternoon - was Call Me By Your Name (Director Luca Guadagnino). I was surprised by this movie. I, as usual, went into it with very little information. I also, unfortunately, had a coughing attack about 10 minutes in, and missed about 10 minutes of the movie. But when I recovered, I sat mesmerized by the film.
It just totally took me back to being young in the heat of summer and crushing on someone. I felt like I was in the countryside with the characters. I felt the warmth of the sun, and smelled the grass. The cinematography was excellent, and so was the sound. I was intimately familiar with the sound of the frogs, the crickets, and passing bugs.
It would have been great if it had won Best Picture, but The Shape of Water ended up being the winner that night. I thought that The Shape of Water was a very solid movie, but it was not my favorite to win.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri was so good that I watched it twice - once weeks before in the theater, and then later in the day of the awards streaming - because I wanted my partner to see it before the ceremony started.
The other big surprise was Phantom Thread. I knew nothing about it except that it was Daniel Day-Lewis' final picture before retirement, and he was playing a fashion designer.
I was enjoying the film, the costumes, the music (great score by Jonny Greenwood), the acting, the quietness of what was happening on screen...and then it took a turn. I won't spoil any of it, but I will say that when it took that turn, I said to myself, "That is not at all what I expected from this film."
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I am looking forward to watching this year's nominees, and I hope to catch some shorts for once.
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