The Oscars are upon us once more! And I did a thing! I watched all the best picture nominees! Well almost, I watched half of The Irishman, annnnd it wasn’t for me. No amount of additional voice over and old people movements in digital young bodies was going to change my opinion on that one.

Anywhoo, I felt after a year of pretty consistent movie blogging that I would actually take the Oscars a tad more seriously. But in serious I mean, just have fun with it because honestly an awards show for art is a little crazy when you think about it. You know that thing that is subjective and has different context based on every individuals own personal life experiences? Yeah, let’s find a way to objectively say which one is better. So to the FUN!

Below I’m going to give you some quick thoughts on all the best picture noms, along with a few other highlights at the end of movies outside of the big nine.

Ford v Ferrari

Ford v Ferrari was a solid sports drama movie. It was good, great even, but I really don’t have much more to say about it. It didn’t blow me away nor did it do anything that really annoyed me. It was just a really great average movie, which alright cool, but did it really need a best picture nom?

The Irishman

Maybe I just don’t like mob movies? Maybe I don’t really hold Scorsese on a pedestal? Or maybe I still haven’t found the Netflix movie that makes me a believer in their quality? I don’t know, but what I do know is I couldn’t sit through this thing. I watched over half of it, and the way the movie was told with so much voice over explaining every detail, and the odd decision to use de-aging instead of casting other actors for the younger versions of the main characters was just obnoxious to me. It felt like this movie could have been a miniseries, 8-10 hours long, and then you could have done away with endless voice overs. Out of all the nominees this was the lowest of the low for me, and could have been replaced by so many different movies that I feel deserved the slot over this.

Jojo Rabbit

Finally to something I actually enjoyed. I really enjoyed the Taika humor that oozed out of this movie. The way he was able to turn a story about a Nazi fanatic child into something more hopeful than dark was brilliant to me, plus of Scarlett Johansson’s two nominations, this one is the one I would like her to get the award for. Was it the best movie of the year? I wouldn’t say so, but it’s definitely up there.

Joker

I said it in my review, I’ll say it again, Joker is a dark messed up movie. It has the most nominations of any movie this year, but of the eleven it’s going to get just two. That would be for the insane performance from lead actor Joaquin Phoenix, and the haunting score from Hildur Guonadottir. The rest of the movie is very well made, but those two standouts are what you should see that movie for.

Little Woman

I’ve never seen or read any Little Women adaptations, so I didn’t know what to expect out of this. I liked it. All of the actresses gave great performances (was a big fan of Florence Pugh), the story was very positive, and by the end you felt pretty good after watching it. The costumes were also a pretty big standout of this one.

Marriage Story

Well looky here, another Netflix movie, and another movie that I just didn’t like that much at all. To be fair it’s goal of capturing the emotional war that is a divorce it met excellently with this movie. It’s just for me, the crux of the movie being these two characters felt very off to me. They didn’t feel like real people, and when a movie is all about making you feel uncomfortable that doesn’t help either. Where at the end of Little Women, I had this good feeling about myself, this movie just made me feel down. That said, there were some solid performances in there, I don’t think this was necessarily Adam Driver’s best work, but I guess enough did to get him in the best actor category. It’s Laura Dern’s evil lawyer character that will surely when best supporting actress against her fellow co-star Scarlett.

1917

Now we are getting to the good stuff. 1917 is one of the best movies of 2019. It’s one shot wizardy, the production design, the directing, the acting, the score, this isn’t a thing that I didn’t like about this movie. It’s powerful, it’s relentless, and you the viewer are there for every moment of the nightmare that was World War I. This is the favorite to win most of the major categories, and I wouldn’t be shocked if it did just that.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

My only issue with this one is it felt a tad too long. There was some extra Sharon Tate fluff that I don’t think really made the movie any stronger, and just stretched things out where they didn’t need to be. Outside of that though this is a great movie. The Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt pairing was just as good as we all hoped it would be. Even when the two characters go on their own journeys they are both entertaining to watch. Out of all the awards this one is up for, Brad Pitt’s supporting actor nomination is the most likely to win come awards night.

Parasite

And here we are. Parasite is the best movie of last year. While I love 1917 just as much, I can’t argue that Parasite’s expertly crafted script, editing, production design, and cast are a perfect mixture that creates one of the most unique experiences I have had with a movie in a long time. The big question is, can it break the Oscar barrier for ignoring movies that don’t have English as the primary language? I don’t know the answer. This movie should win all the awards it has been nominated for but the ones I feel pretty confident in are best original screenplay and best international film.

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So those were the big nominees, but there are some movies that I felt deserved a little more love than what they got. So here’s a few that missed out, that should have definitely been in the conversation.

Knives Out

For me the were three movies that were up there as my favorites of 2019 and in my favorites of the last decade. 1917, Parasite, and Knives Out. Knives Out got an original screenplay nom, but this one deserved more. Best Costume Design, Best Support Actress (Ana de Armas), and Best Picture. For those who haven’t seen it yet, please give it a shot!

Us

Horror movies don’t get the support of the awards circuits, and I think that’s a shame. This movie has such excellent acting performances since move the cast is playing TWO roles of the same person. At the very least Lupita Nyong’o should have received a Best Actress nom, but I would also throw this one in for Best Cinematography as well.

Booksmart

Along with horror, comedy is another one that gets ignored when it comes to awards. While I can’t say for sure which categories this one should get nominations for, best original screenplay maybe, it’s still one of the best movies of last year and deserves some kind of recognition.

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And there ya have it, my thoughts on the big movies before the awards night. While some categories are a lock, I’m hoping for some drama between the big heavy hitters in 1917 and Parasite. I would not be upset if either movie gets all the awards, but it would definitely be a statement if Parasite got the Best Picture win. Well I guess we don’t have too much longer to wait, go make some popcorn and get the drinks going, it’s movie awards night!