It’s the beginning of February and that means it’s time for Hollywood’s biggest night and one of my favorite times of the year — it’s the Oscars!
I’ve written in this space before why I love The Academy Awards, so I won’t go into the 30-year love affair Oscar and I have had, but before the stars walk the red carpet Feb. 9, I wanted to take on the ceremony’s biggest award — Best Picture — and let you know how I would rank the nine nominees since that is how the voting members of The Academy do it.
I want to say right off the bat that I don’t think any of these were bad films, and while my list does not put this film at the top, I do think it is likely “1917” will take home the Oscar. Let’s jump right into it.
No. 9 is “Little Women.” It was a nice enough film, but it has been done before — there are at least half a dozen movie adaptations — and honestly the 1994 version with Winona Ryder is better.
No. 8 is “Marriage Story.” It was a tossup between “Little Women” and this one for the bottom of the pile but I liked this one a bit more because of Laura Dern. She rocks in this movie. The rest of the cast annoyed me.
A quick bit of trivia: The directors of my two least deserving films here, Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, have been a couple for nearly a decade. Neat.
No. 7 is “The Irishman.” This is an old school Martin Scorsese gangster film and it would rank higher for me if it wasn’t so long. At three-and-a-half hours, it is the longest Best Picture nom and Scorsese could have told a cleaner, more focused story if it was kept under two-and-a-half hours.
No. 6 is “Ford v Ferrari.” Technically speaking this is a beautiful film, but ultimately it is a forgettable movie that no one will remember a year from now.
No. 5 is “1917.” This is another one that is technically well made but for me didn’t pack that emotional punch you usually get from war epics. Props to director Sam Mendes for making this war drama appear to be filmed in one continuous shot, and that will probably be enough to get it the win (it worked in 2015 for “Birdman”), but it wasn’t the best of the best for me.
No. 4 is Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood.” This love letter to making movies suffers from the same ailment of “The Irishman,” at nearly three hours it is way too long. It also could have benefited from having about 30 minutes or so cut out. Why it ranks higher than “The Irishman” for me though is because when it works it works very well. This is one of two films that may upset “1917” and win the Oscar. Tarantino has the benefit of having the only nominated film about Hollywood and they love rewarding movies about themselves.
No. 3 is “Jojo Rabbit.” This is probably the most controversial film of the noms and that is saying a lot since several of the nominations are seen as divisive. “Jojo” is a World War II comedy about a boy who is a member of the Hitler Youth. Oh, and also his imaginary friend is Adolf Hitler. The film, directed by Taika Waititi, carried a lot of heart and is very emotional for a comedy. One of my favorites this year, but has little to no chance of winning.
No. 2 is “Parasite.” This international film from South Korea starts off as a dark comedy and takes a wild turn becoming a Hitchcockian thriller about class structure and entitlement. Director Bong Joon-Ho did an amazing job fleshing out the characters and building tension. Of all the nominees, “Parasite” has the best shot to take the Oscar from “1917.” If it does, it will be the first time a foreign language film has won the top prize.
And my No. 1 film nominated, and my top flick of 2019, is “Joker.” As someone who has been a huge fan of DC Comics and the Batman franchise for as long as I can remember, this should come as no surprise. What is surprising to me is how much I loved this movie. From the tone to the score to all the performances, led by Joaquin Phoenix as the Clown Prince of Crime, this was for me the best in cinema from the past year.
There’s my list, don’t @ me. So tune in to the 92nd Academy Awards, you know I will, and let’s see who takes home the big prize. Didn’t get enough of lists in this column? Have no fear, because we have another one for you in this issue — our annual list of the 10 Most Eligible Singles for 2020.
Also in this issue, we chat with one of the stars from the national Broadway tour of “Mean Girls,” coming to Tampa and Orlando, as well as two male dancers who will be taking on the roles of the Stepsisters in Orlando Ballet’s “Cinderella.”
In news, we remember the late Terry DeCarlo and his work at the LGBT+ Center Orlando, get filled in on Pride happenings in Tampa Bay and take a look at companies pulling their funds from the Florida school voucher program due to anti-LGBTQ policies.
