Best Picture – Drama
Winner - Oppenheimer
Runners Up - All of Us Strangers, Anatomy of a Fall, Killers of the Flower Moon, Past Lives, The Zone of Interest
Commentary - Oppenheimer is a bold, thunderous, consuming cinematic experience from one of our best directors, Christopher Nolan. It has an amazing cast, a surprisingly pertinent screenplay, and a set of technical achievements that make it an awe-inspiring film to listen to and watch. It may go down as Nolan's magnum opus. It also was a box office phenomenon, and a reminder to the studios to always bank on your legends, and that movie goers are yearning for original storytelling on a grand scale. Oppenheimer filled that void for many, and the fact that it is one of the best films of the year on top of that only adds to is award worthiness.
Best Picture – Comedy/Musical
Winner - (TIE) Barbie and The Holdovers
Runners Up - Air, American Fiction, Joy Ride, Poor Things, You Hurt My Feelings
Commentary - Remember what I said about original storytelling, and its impact on audiences? The other half of the Barbenheimer phenomenon, Barbie, was yet another great example of a studio taking a a chance and banking on one of our best, Greta Gerwig, to create a wholly original, beautiful, funny masterstroke. Everything about this project screamed disaster. She flipped the script on that narrative with easily one of the best films of the year. But I absolutely adored The Holdovers. I have always had a soft spot for Alexander Payne's warm, yet pertinent human dramadies (Sideways is a top ten film for me), and he once again nails every bit of this new classic. Paul Giamatti and Da'Vine Joy Randolph are extraordinary, the script is sharp, and it was the one film this year that I didn't want to end. And when the credits rolled, I was sad to see it go.
Best Picture - Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Action/Horror
Winner - Godzilla Minus One
Runners Up - Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, John Wick: Chapter 4, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Commentary - In a relatively weak year for genre movies, especially as so many known properties failed to capture box office magic, a wonderful surprise hit theaters by the name of Godzilla Minus One. The first Godzilla film to ever be nominated for an Academy Award, this brilliant spectacle is the perfect blend of science fiction and horror, with a huge dose of history, grief, the trauma of war, and stunning visual effects. I don't know if it can win the Oscar for Best Visual Effects, but I am hoping for a wonderful surprise.
Best Picture – Animated
Other Contenders - The Boy and the Heron
Runners Up - The Peasants, Robot Dreams, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Commentary - A great year for animation, as two of the best, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and The Boy and the Heron battle it out for the Best Animated Feature Oscar. Either film winning will be a great moment, but I am partial to The Boy and the Heron. It is most likely Hayao Miyazaki's last film, and I have personally never given him an Awards Psychic Award. Plus, the film is another thoughtful, beautifully constructed piece from one of film's modern masters, and without the sentimental factor, is worthy of recognition.
Best Picture – Documentary
Winner - Kokomo City
Runners Up - 20 Days in Mariupol, 32 Sounds, Four Daughters, The Mother of All Lies, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
Commentary - It wasn't the best year for documentary films, despite some nice entries. But for me, I thought that Kokomo City was fantastic. Funny, emotional, with beautiful black and white cinematography, I felt like the film told an important story, gave us a look at the lives of black trans women, and a sobering look at the world of sex work. It was a creative, entertaining, and enlightening work that stood out to me among the bunch.
Best Director
Winner - Greta Gerwig “Barbie”
Runners Up - Andrew Haigh "All of Us Are Strangers", Justine Triet "Anatomy of a Fall". Hayao Miyazaki "The Boy and the Heron", Alexander Payne “The Holdovers”, Christopher Nolan “Oppenheimer”, Celine Song “Past Lives”, Jonathan Glazer "The Zone of Interest"
Commentary - When Greta Gerwig was snubbed by the Academy's Director's branch, I was not really that surprised. The general Oscar-viewing public is going to have to recognize that this branch is esoteric, has a lot of international members, and has a sensibility that does not match up with the folks who loved Barbie. Love it or hate it, that is how it has been for a while, and will not change anytime soon. Then there was the backlash, then there was the backlash to the backlash, then there was the revival of the "men hating Barbie" crowd that loudly complained all summer while the film was a smash hit. What I hate about all of the mess that has been cause by this, is that it seems lost on people that Greta Gerwig's film is great, and that her directorial work was stunning. She pulled together a craft heavy film, with an original concept, and melded it together beautifully. Her vision on this film was singular, and yet, unlike some directorial movies, the sentiment, the performances, and the heart were never forgotten in the directorial flourishes. She has quickly become one of our best directors, and I cannot wait to see what she does next.
Best Actor – Drama
Winner - Andrew Scott "All of Us Strangers"
Runners Up - Colman Domingo "Rustin", Cillian Murphy “Oppenheimer”, Frank Rogowski “Passages”
Commentary - All of Us Strangers is a film that has really stuck with me long after viewing. It is so heartbreaking, so sad, that it at times feels like drowning (great film, but almost too much). But the thing I keep going back to is the devastating and brilliant performance of Andrew Scott. His childish relationship with his parents, his hesitance in accepting love, his sorrow when he loses it all. It is just a beautifully complex performance, and Scott nails it.
Best Actress – Drama
Winner - (TIE) Lily Gladstone “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Greta Lee “Past Lives”
Runners Up - Annette Bening "NYAD", Sandra Huller "Anatomy of a Fall", and Teyana Taylor “A Thousand and One”
Commentary - Two of my favorite performances this year were Lily Gladstone and Greta Lee. Lily's pain and sorrow, and then ultimate triumph at the end was the heart and soul of a film that put a spotlight on the horrific trauma of the Osage. Lily's authenticity and passion shown though every scene, and it was Molly's story that was the one you cared about. Up against legends like DeNiro and DiCaprio, that is saying something. I also loved the beautiful and subtle performance of Greta Lee in Past Lives. She was the heart and soul of the film, and her struggle between the past and the future was handled with such grace and wit. I can't wait to see what both of these amazing women do next.
Best Actor – Comedy/Musical
Winner - Paul Giamatti “The Holdovers”
Runners Up - Jeffrey Wright "American Fiction", Matt Damon “Air”
Commentary - I have loved Paul Giamatti for years, and The Holdovers is the perfect example of why he is one of our best actors. He was funny, neurotic, emotional, and managed to find depths to what could have easily been a shallow caricature. I know Cillian Murphy is going to win the Oscar (well-deserved by the way), but I am still secretly rooting for a surprise upset for a veteran who has never gotten the due he deserved.
Best Actress – Comedy/Musical
Winner - Margot Robbie “Barbie”
Runners Up - Julia Louis-Dreyfus "You Hurt My Feelings" and Emma Stone "Poor Things"
Commentary - A lot of people decided that they were well-trained actors in response to Margot Robbie's Oscar snub. They said "she wasn't really that good", "her role wasn't a stretch", "she played a doll, not that much range". Blah, blah, blah. Anyone who saw Barbie knows that Margot Robbie pulled off an incredibly difficult role, and did so with humor and style. Also, Barbie's transformation from doll to human was handled with such deft by a talented actress. In lesser hands. it could have been a complete failure. But with Robbie at the helm, it was quite simply, brilliant.
Best Supporting Actor
Winner - Robert Downey Jr. “Oppenheimer”
Runners Up - Sterling K. Brown "American Fiction", Ryan Gosling “Barbie”, John Magaro "Past Lives", Dominic Sessa “The Holdovers”
Commentary - Robert Downey Jr. has had quite a career in Hollywood. A great first act, a tremendous fall, and one of the industry's most stunning comebacks. He disappeared into his role in Oppenheimer, showcasing just how good of a dramatic actor he can be, when given a project like this. Plus, I am a softy for career awards, and Downey is one of the great veterans who is well overdue for some worthy recognition.
Best Supporting Actress
Winner - Da'Vine Joy Randolph “The Holdovers”
Runners Up - Erika Alexander "American Fiction", Danielle Brooks "The Color Purple", America Ferrera "Barbie", Rachel McAdams "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret."
Commentary - I have loved the work of Da'Vine Joy Randolph for several years now, and I am so thrilled to see her get big breakthrough, and win a well-deserved Oscar. Mary is the heart and soul of The Holdovers, and her magnetism, emotional center, and energy, propel the film is ways that help elevate it to greatness.
Best Voiceover/Motion Capture Performance
Winner - Shameik Moore "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse"
Runners Up - Jack Black "The Super Mario Bros. Movie", Helen Mirren "Barbie", Chloë Grace Moretz "Nimona"
Commentary - Shameik Moore does such a great job as Miles Morales, and is the heart and soul of one of the best franchises today. His work in Across the Spider-Verse conveyed so many great moments and emotions, and elevated a great work of animation.
Best Ensemble
Winner - American Fiction
Runners Up - Air, Barbie, Bottoms, The Color Purple, Joy Ride, Oppenheimer, Saltburn,Theater Camp
Commentary - Jeffrey Wright, Sterling K. Brown, Erika Alexander, Issa Rae, Leslie Uggams, Tracee Ellis Ross, John Ortiz, Adam Brody, and Keith David. American Fiction is a great ensemble piece, where each actor brings humor and depth to a fantastic film.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner - Cord Jefferson "American Fiction"
Runners Up - Andrew Haigh "All of Us Strangers", Christopher Nolan “Oppenheimer”, Tony McNamara "Poor Things"
Commentary - One of the sharpest scripts to come out in a long time is Cord Jefferson's funny, biting, and incredibly relevant work, American Fiction. It didn't hurt that he had an incredible ensemble, but Jefferson's insight into race, art, and family were some of the most pointed put on a screen in a long time.
Best Original Screenplay
Winners - Celine Song “Past Lives”
Runners Up - David Hemingson “The Holdovers”, Justin Triet and Arthur Harari "Anatomy of a Fall", Emma Seligman and Rachel Sennott “Bottoms”, Nicole Holofcener “You Hurt My Feelings”
Commentary - Celine Song's debut Past Lives is a top five film for me this year, mostly because of the wonderfully quiet, haunting, and human story about past love, and its effect on the present and the future. The humanity and love that Song infuses into every scene showcase a true talent that is just getting started.
Best Cinematography
Winner - Hoyte van Hoytema "Oppenheimer"
Runners Up - Rodrigo Prieto "Barbie", Matthew Libatique "Maestro", Łukasz Żal "The Zone of Interest"
Commentary - Hoytema's stunning work in Oppenheimer moved the needle of cinematic achievement forward with his innovative cinematography. A stunning achievement.
Best Costume Design
Winner - Jacqueline Durran "Barbie"
Runners Up - The Color Purple, Poor Things, Wonka
Commentary - The amount of effort that was put into creating the fantastic Barbie costumes, and continually tying them back to the decades history of Barbie was creative brilliance.
Best Film Editing
Winner - Laurent Sénéchal "Anatomy of a Fall"
Runners Up - Barbie, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, Oppenheimer
Commentary - The brilliant tension, and slow built of Anatomy of a Fall is due to a great director and a fantastic editor, who leaves us in suspense and guessing right up until the end.
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Winner - Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston "Poor Things"
Runners Up - Asteroid City, The Iron Claw, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro
Commentary - In constructing both Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe, the makeup artists of Poor Things really did an excellent job bringing Yorgo Lanthimo's Frankenstein tale to life on the screen.
Best Original Score
Winner - Ludwig Göransson "Oppenheimer"
Runners Up - Laura Karpman "American Fiction", Joe Hisaishi "The Boy and the Heron", Robbie Robertson "Killers of the Flower Moon", Daniel Pemberton "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse"
Commentary - Ludwig Göransson outdid himself with a brilliant, immersive score that enhanced the visuals of Oppenheimer with heart-pounding music that was out of this world.
Best Original Song
Winner - Barbie - "What Was I Made For?" by Billie Eilish and Finneas,
Runners Up - Barbie - "I'm Just a Ken" by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt and Theater Camp - "Camp Isn't Home" by Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman, Ben Platt and Mark Sonnenblick
Commentary - I'm Just Ken is so much fun, and Camp Isn't Home is such a pivotal moment in a great indie comedy. But the moment in Barbie when you her What Was I Made For? is a incredibly emotional experience. That scene, and that song, are the pivotal moment, and if you didn't cry you are hollow inside, or most likely a straight man. Either way, you missed out. Billie Eilish and Finneas once again proved that the power of song in film is singular and encompassing.
Best Production Design
Winner - Sarah Greenwood "Barbie"
Runners Up - Asteroid City, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, Poor Things
Commentary - Sarah Greenwood's work in building the Barbie World was fun, inventive, submersive, and a brilliant example of how the production design can have such an incredible impact on the story and the characters. Technical categories should not stand alone, they should enhance the story. Barbie's production design does just that, with aplomb.
Best Sound
Winner - Tarn Willers and Johnnie Burn "The Zone of Interest"
Runners Up - Ferrari, John Wick: Chapter 4, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, Oppenheimer
Commentary - Most of the films with the best sound this year were loud and epic. Surprisingly though, the best sound of the year is probably one of the quietest films to ever get an Oscar nod in this category. The Zone of Interest isn't about loud clanging and cars vrooming. It is about the impact that perfectly coordinated sound can have on a story. The Zone of Interest has some of the most disturbing sound occurring in the background of its almost mundane exterior. The screams and gunshots as the brutality of Auschwitz unfold are only mere haunting sounds while the family portrayed acts like it is nothing. This film is a brutal look at the complacency of so many in the eyes of horror, and the sound work in this film brings that horror to life in a subtle and disturbing way.
Best Visual Effects
Winner - Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima "Godzilla Minus One"
Runners Up - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Oppenheimer, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Commentary - See Best Picture - Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Action/Horror
Top 20 Films of 2023
1. The Holdovers
2. Oppenheimer
3. Barbie
4. Past Lives
5. American Fiction
6. All of Us Strangers
7. The Boy and the Heron
8. The Zone of Interest
9. Air
10. Killers of the Flower Moon
11. Godzilla Minus One
12. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
13. Poor Things
14. Kokomo City
15. Anatomy of a Fall
16. You Hurt My Feelings
17. Joy Ride
18. A Thousand and One
19. Saltburn
20. The Color Purple
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