Oscar Rant 2024
(Honoring the films of 2023)
Rant by Paul Preston
For an essay on what I thought the best films of 2023 were, check out my Top 10 of 2023 article. Then you’ll get where I’m coming from with a lot of this. However, time’s ticking, let’s get right to it:
Best Picture
American Fiction
Anatomy of a Fall
Barbie
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Past Lives
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest
Glaring Omission: All of Us Strangers. This brilliant drama has had a rough go of it in awards season, criminally overlooked. It’s in my top five of the year, has indie cred and extraordinary critical acclaim, but just…can’t…get over the top during awards season. SEE IT ANYWAY.
Runners-Up: Strangers, for sure. Runners-up that had a chance to be nominated include Priscilla and Saltburn. Movies with no real shot that I would’ve included in a top ten of the year are Perfect Days (rightly nominated for International Film), The Iron Claw, and Dream Scenario.
Great Inclusion: Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest. These are great films that deserved a spot here, not just in the International Film category. Also, points to The Academy members for remembering way back to earlier in the year for some of these nominees, when usually the year-end films dominate the category with recency bias. But Oppenheimer, Past Lives, and Barbie were spring and summer films. Good to see them sticking around.
Should Win: Barbie, of what’s nominated. A film punching way, way above its weight class.
Will Win: Oppenheimer. It’s won everything up to now (Golden Globe, PGA, Critic’s Choice, SAG, DGA), it’d be a major shock if it didn’t win.
Best Actress
Annette Bening, Nyad
Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall
Carey Mulligan, Maestro
Emma Stone, Poor Things
Glaring Omission: Margo Robbie, Barbie. Much has been made about this, but that really only proves that the actress category is stacked this year. There was a lot to choose from, like…
Runners-Up: Cailee Spaeny, Priscilla and Greta Lee, Past Lives. For all the love Past Lives has received, there’s been no love (really, all award season), for the acting. I’d also throw some kudos to Florence Pugh in A Good Person. She’s excellent in that good film.
Great Inclusion: Sandra Hüller. What a year for Hüller! The whole did-she-or-didn’t-she of Anatomy of a Fall rides on her complex performance. Plus, she was a lead (and equally good in) The Zone of Interest. She was embodying the phrase “so good they can’t ignore you” this year…and they didn’t.
Should Win: I like Hüller
Will Win: Gladstone. It’s a fine performance, not a showy one that usually gets rewarded, but there’s also the idea of breaking new ground with her win that I think will appeal to The Academy.
Best Actor
Bradley Cooper, Maestro
Colman Domingo, Rustin
Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction
Glaring Omission: Andrew Scott, All of Us Strangers. Even with the BAFTA Awards correctly showering this film with nominations, they didn’t nominate Scott. It’s baffling, he’s excellent and anchors the entire film. The whole thing is about him and he delivers. You could also say Koji Yokusho of Perfect Days is a bit glaring, as he won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival, but that didn’t translate to an Oscar nod.
Runners-Up: Here’s where I make cases for some outlier nods – Zac Efron in The Iron Claw, who is transformative as Kevin Von Erich, underplaying the role with style not seen before from him. Also Eugenio Derbez, taking the inspirational teacher role and running with it in Radical! Also Nic Cage does his usual array of wild choices, but in Dream Scenario, it’s all in service of a great story so he caught my eye for perhaps another nomination.
Great Inclusion: Bradley Cooper, who, despite the makeup and the affected voice, does the most with simplicity in the role of Leonard Bernstein.
Should Win: Giamatti, there’s just a little more for an actor to do with a role like Paul Hunham in The Holdovers than with Oppenheimer, but…
Will Win: Murphy, and I ain’t too mad about it, Murphy’s been an unsung actor for too long.
Best Supporting Actress
Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
America Ferrera, Barbie
Jodie Foster, Nyad
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
Glaring Omission: Penelope Cruz in Ferrari. If the movie overall were more well-received, she’d make the cut, but that’s gotta be why she’s not here ‘cause otherwise, her performance is spectacular.
Runners-Up: Rosamund Pike in Saltburn, perhaps riding the tone best of them all in that wacky family.
Great Inclusion: America Ferrera. Every time The Academy doesn’t dismiss the greatness of that movie, I’m on board.
Should Win: I got nothing to argue against Randolph.
Will Win: …and she and Best Supporting Actor are your locks of the night.
Best Supporting Actor
Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction
Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon
Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things
Glaring Omission: Perhaps Christian Friedel in The Zone of Interest? No acting nominations for that tricky film seems odd. Oh, and Willem Dafoe in Poor Things, a bargain in any movie for what he brings to the film.
Runners-Up: Speaking of foreign-language film performances, you can probably overlook Swann Arlaud’s performance in Anatomy of a Fall as just a lawyer moving the plot along, but the dense dialogue and delicate balance his character had to ride in defense of Sandra was quite a feat. I also thought Holt McCallany in The Iron Claw was outstanding. He played a character that cast his shadow across his whole family. In playing him, he cast a shadow over that entire film.
Great Inclusion: Gosling. Hell, yes.
Should Win: Downey, Jr. Hard to believe we were OK being without him for FOUR YEARS since Avengers: Endgame. His return in Oppenheimer was most welcome.
Will Win: Downey, cleaning up the pre-Oscar awards.
Best Director
Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall
Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things
Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest
Glaring Omission: As ever, five other nominees who made films good enough to win Best Picture, but their guidance over the film didn’t warrant a nomination. This continues to be a dumb discrepancy.
Runners-Up: If I had my way, yes, Greta Gerwig would have been nominated and probably Andrew Haigh of All of Us Strangers as well.
Great Inclusion: Triet. Bradley Cooper and Gerwig probably did more with a larger production, but for tackling a film with a story as rich as Anatomy of a Fall, Triet’s is a good nomination.
Should Win: Gotta go with Glazer here, whose film ranks the highest in my top ten of the year, but he’s also made a film unlike anything else before it. He also never let the tone get away from him and that could’ve happened EASILY.
Will Win: Nolan, in the midst of a rout by Oppenheimer.
Best Original Screenplay
Anatomy of a Fall
The Holdovers
Maestro
May December
Past Lives
Glaring Omission: Can’t call much here glaring as they’re all but one Best Picture nominees. I was not a fan of May December, and that had to do mostly with the script, so I’d swap that out for any of these: Asteroid City (Wes Anderson is often nominated in this category and was there a more ambitious film of his recently than this one with the story-within-the-play-within-the-TV-special)? Bravo. I also think the script for Air was way more entertaining than the source material warranted. They even made Phil Knight funny.
Runners-Up: OK, here’s where I’d finally like to plug my favorite film of 2023 – Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. See my review for why I think the surprises, excitement, emotion and overall sendoff of Dr. Jones is Oscar-worthy in this category.
Great Inclusion: Anatomy of a Fall. If you haven’t seen it yet, prepare for a heavy dose of dialogue.
Should Win: This is a TOUGH one. As great as Fall was, it’s still a who-dunnit/courtroom drama and even The Holdovers had familiar elements, so as far as the most original thing I saw, I’d probably go with Maestro.
Will Win: The Holdovers. The return to form for Alexander Payne was inevitable. David Hemingson’s script gave him great characters to work with.
Best Adapted Screenplay
American Fiction
Barbie
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest
Glaring Omission: Killers of the Flower Moon, the only Best Picture nominee not also nominated for the script!
Runners-Up: All of Us Strangers, whose praises I’ve sang a lot. Allow me to do it again. This is a wild, unpredictable script.
Great Inclusion: Barbie. Bringing Gerwig and Noah Baumbach on board was a stroke of genius on the part of Mattel and Warner Brothers.
Should Win: Barbie
Will Win: You may be able to tell by now with my lack of mentioning them that American Fiction and Poor Things didn’t do anything for me, but the buzz and pre-Oscar awards are leaning towards American Fiction winning this category.
Best Cinematography
El Conde
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Glaring Omission: The Zone of Interest, perhaps? Full disclosure – didn’t see El Conde (unfortunately, ‘cause it has an awesome premise!).
Runners-Up: Let’s have some fun – John Wick: Chapter Four. The movie looked EXCELLENT. The photography didn’t just show off in sequences like the overhead shotgun sequence, but there were looks that were heroic, foreboding and more. Just a kickass-looking movie all ‘round.
Great Inclusion: Maestro. Did you know there are no cutaways in the film? It’s all wide or close-up shots and that really puts the characters on the spot. Plus, the aspect ratio and color shifts are very good calls.
Should Win: So I go with Maestro.
Will Win: Oppenheimer. Did I mention it’s gonna mini-sweep the night?
Best Original Score
American Fiction
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Glaring Omission: Something from animation, which has won this category a lot. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, for example, crushed its original score (again).
Runners-Up: The Zone of Interest. There’s hardly a score, but that’s a strong choice, too.
Great Inclusion: Dial of Destiny! “Helena’s Theme” is an all-time high point for John Williams.
Should Win: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. To find new themes and still wow with a score five movies into a franchise is impressive as hell.
Will Win: Oppenheimer, but I’d say Nolan’s scores are mostly noise, driving the action, but they’re never subtle about it, to the film’s detriment.
Best Original Song
“The Fire Inside,” Flamin’ Hot
“I’m Just Ken,” Barbie
“It Never Went Away,” American Symphony
“Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People),” Killers of the Flower Moon
“What Was I Made For?” Barbie
Glaring Omission: Nothing from Wonka? I have to admit, when I left the theater, the only tune I was humming was “Pure Imagination”, but I know there were original songs in there…
Runners-Up: I don’t have much to contribute here, I’m just sitting here thinking, “Wow…Wish was that bad?”
Great Inclusion: “What Was I Made For?” Barbie. Beautiful song, beautiful moment in the film.
Should Win: “What Was I Made For?” Barbie
Will Win: “What Was I Made For?” Barbie – Billie Eilish could be a two-time Oscar winner. Her work is really moody, a song of hers was the opening credits music for True Detective: Night Country. Keep going, Billie.
Best Editing
Anatomy of a Fall
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Glaring Omission: These are all Best Picture nominees, so it’s tough to argue the picks, but maybe The Zone of Interest? Like the score, the editing was sparse to great effect.
Runners-Up: Can you include documentaries here? Serious question. ‘Cause films like Beyond Utopia or 20 Days in Mariupol feature outstanding editing, especially given the amount of footage and the ability to make it make sense.
Great Inclusion: Laugh that a movie as LONG as Killers of the Flower Moon even HAD an editor, but Scorsese and long-time collaborator Thelma Schoonmaker can still edit the hell out of individual scenes.
Should Win: Killers of the Flower Moon
Will Win: Oppenheimer. Throw it on the pile in the battle of the long-ass movies.
Best Production Design
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Glaring Omission: These are good nominees. Maybe The Zone of Interest had a shot here?
Runners-Up: Asteroid City. No one makes a movie that looks like Wes Anderson makes a movie look. It’s always clever and it’s always involved.
Great Inclusion: Napoleon. The filmmakers may have wished for more nominations for this movie, but the production design can’t be denied.
Should Win: Barbie
Will Win: It’s between Barbie and Poor Things, and I think The Academy members will think themselves aligning themselves more with ‘high art’ if they choose Poor Things, so that’s my prediction.
Best Costume Design
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Glaring Omission: Nothing really glaring except there are never just modern-day movies rewarded here. It’d be nice to see Past Lives pop up for costume design.
Runners-Up: I’d again have some fun here and nominate John Wick: Chapter Four, if, for nothing else, the Kevlar suits.
Great Inclusion: Killers of the Flower Moon – expert re-creation of place and time.
Should Win: Barbie
Will Win: Poor Things, for the reason I stated above.
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Golda
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Society of the Snow
Glaring Omission: Killers of the Flower Moon. The authentic Osage looks were great. Full disclosure – didn’t see Golda.
Runners-Up: I’d nominate the unfortunate haircuts of The Iron Claw if there was room for more nominees!
Great Inclusion: Society of the Snow. From the 1972 haircuts to the emaciated faces of the survivors, good work all ‘round.
Should Win: Society of the Snow, it’s less showy than what will probably win.
Will Win: Poor Things.
Best Sound
The Creator
Maestro
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Oppenheimer
The Zone of Interest
Glaring Omission: Not enough action here, maybe some John Wick: Chapter Four or Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (of course, animation sound work is all the more impressive because, of course, NO sound is practical).
Runners-Up: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny comes to mind.
Great Inclusion: Maestro. I saw this Netflix film in a theater and the music is CRUCIAL to the story and to understanding Bernstein. It needs to overwhelm you and when it does, you can really appreciate the mixing.
Should Win: Maestro
Will Win: Oppenheimer. But I think for years we’ve been bugged by the muddled noise that is a Nolan film’s sound mix.
Best Visual Effects
The Creator
Godzilla Minus One
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Napoleon
Glaring Omission: Barbie, but voters probably saw the production design and didn’t think to nominate the film here.
Runners-Up: Society of the Snow, for taking some of the more chilling sequences of Alive and upgrading them to modern day.
Great Inclusion: Godzilla Minus One. Say what you want about the melodrama, Godzilla looks AWESOME.
Should Win: I didn’t love The Creator, but knowing what it cost and how good it looks for that budget, it should win something!
Will Win: Godzilla Minus One, for the feel-good win and speech of the night.
Best International Feature
Io Capitano
Perfect Days
Society of the Snow
The Teachers’ Lounge
The Zone of Interest
Glaring Omission: Anatomy of a Fall. France screwed up. Well, I should take this gripe to The Academy. Each country can submit one film and that right there is problematic, ‘cause here’s a year France had to award-worthy films – Fall and The Taste of Things. They submitted The Taste of Things and are now without an entry in the race. I found The Taste of Things tedious. France screwed up (when faced with an unfair situation – if you have two award-worthy films coming out of your country, you should be able to submit them both!).
Runners-Up: Full disclosure – I didn’t see Io Capitano, but I love this list of nominees otherwise!
Great Inclusion: Perfect Days, on my top ten films of the year.
Should Win: The Zone of Interest
Will Win: The Zone of Interest. It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen.
Best Animated Feature
The Boy and the Heron
Elemental
Nimona
Robot Dreams
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Glaring Omission: I’m behind in this category for the first time in a long time, having not seen The Boy and the Heron, Nimona, and Robot Dreams.
Runners-Up: …but I can tell you I saw Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, and it’s my favorite of all the TMNT films! Funny, exciting and unleashed from the real world into animation. I’d nominate that, so these other films must be great.
Great Inclusion: Elemental. In a summer of weird box office trends, Pixar not finding their mark two years in a row (after Lightyear) was very unusual, so I’m glad Elemental eventually, through word of mouth, great its office and box office into a hit. Great, visually beautiful film that belongs on this list.
Should Win: But…the Spider-Verse is just insane.
Will Win: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – they didn’t miss a beat translating the visuals, sound, mayhem and creativity of the first one. Miyazaki is the contender here who could pull an upset, but with an Annie Awards win, I think the industry-types are awarding Spider-Verse and will again on Oscar night.
Best Animated Short
Letter to a Pig
Ninety-Five Senses
Our Uniform
Pachyderme
War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko
Glaring Omission: Here’s another category I’m under-versed in. I’ve ONLY seen Ninety-Five Senses. Speaking of full disclosure, though, these are hard to find! Once the nominations come out, they should all go up on YouTube.
Runners-Up: Carl’s Date, the continuing adventures of Carl Frederickson of Up and Dug the Dog. It’s adorable, and it’s odd to not see Pixar on this list. Perhaps it’s just too adorable.
Great Inclusion: I thought Ninety-Five Senses was outstanding.
Should Win: …and I’ll be unfairly rooting for it!
Will Win: Ninety-Five Senses. Why not? I’m entitled to my uninformed opinion. But if I’ve invoked the Annie Awards already in this article, War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko won the short award there, so that film will provide the night’s competition.
Best Live-Action Short
The After
Invincible
Knight of Fortune
Red, White and Blue
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Glaring Omission: I saw a lot of shorts this year, but nothing that said “Oscar contender!”…until I saw these. Full disclosure – didn’t see Red, White and Blue.
Runners-Up: Again…nothing I saw beat these.
Great Inclusion: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. Is going the shorts route finally the way we get Wes Anderson an Oscar? He’s been nominated eight times and every one of his films is a true original. Guess what? So is The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar! It’s just bonkers how well made, thought out and put together this movie is. And it’s really, really, really FUN.
Should Win: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.
Will Win: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. Yup and yup.
Best Documentary Feature
Bobi Wine: The People’s President
The Eternal Memory
Four Daughters
To Kill a Tiger
20 Days in Mariupol
Glaring Omission: American Symphony. This Matthew Heineman doc about Jon Batiste was the most moving film I saw all year. The real moments, the art, the fascinating subjects at the center in Batiste and his wife. But outside of The Eternal Memory, there doesn’t seem to be much room for movies that aren’t about war, murder, authoritarianism and extremism. These are important subjects, and this is a great doc list, but for variety’s sake and with Heineman’s name on American Symphony, I’m surprised it’s not in the mix. Full disclosure – didn’t see To Kill a Tiger, Netflix is releasing is ON Oscar Sunday. Dumb.
Runners-Up: Beyond Utopia. Between Bobi Wine and 20 Days in Mariupol, I guess there just wasn’t room for another film about a ruthless dictator (for the record, Bobi Wine is an inspiration, who he ran against in Ugandan politics, Yoweri Museveni, is the dictator). Utopia is dangerous, scary, exciting and unforgettable. See it!
Great Inclusion: The Eternal Memory, for the reason I state above. It’s the standout (about dementia) in an otherwise politics-soaked group of nominees.
Should Win: However…20 Days in Mariupol is undeniable in its coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and unshakable in its damnation of Putin and his corrupt, inhumane war.
Will Win: 20 Days in Mariupol. Vital, topical and full of top-notch filmmaking from people who risked their very lives, to not reward Mariupol would be a big jaw-dropping. It would also, I believe, be PBS’s first Oscar.
Best Documentary Short
The ABCs of Book Banning
The Barber of Little Rock
Island in Between
The Last Repair Shop
Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó
Glaring Omission: Eco-Hack!…OK, I interviewed the filmmakers, so I’d like to just give them a shout-out. One great thing about their film is that it was released by The New Yorker magazine. I love press outlets as a new way to get shorts seen. The New Yorker also released The Barber of Little Rock. The L.A. Times is behind The Last Repair Shop and the NY Times is behind Island in Between. More like this please.
Runners-Up: I got nothing. These are great nominees.
Great Inclusion: The ABCs of Book Banning, ‘cause it’ll open your eyes up.
Should Win: There are two inspirational docs here – The Barber of Little Rock is about a barber and banker in Little Rock who is working to help poor people in an economy he feels is unfair racially (and he’s right). The Last Repair Shop is about a team of people who fix musical instruments for students. Both are great but Repair Shop hit me with the emotions much harder.
Will Win: …and I think it will win.
