OK, we have now seen all ten of the Best Picture nominees, so I’m updating my original post (in bold) below.

Because we are old (kids grown) and have plenty of time, my husband and I try to see all the Best Picture nominees before the Academy Awards broadcast in March. Here are my quick (very unprofessional) reviews. 

ANORA – I thought it was just OK. My husband liked the film more than me. The last few scenes really make the film, but it takes too long to get to them in my opinion. I do not think it’s Best Picture material, but Mikey Madison (nominated for Best Actress) does give a terrific performance as a feisty New York sex worker. (We absolutely loved her in the Hulu series “Better Things” with Pamela Adlon. Go watch her in that.)

A COMPLETE UNKNOWN – I really liked it! I thought Ed Norton and Timothée Chalamet were fantastic as Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan. I have always liked folk music, so the history of the social justice grounding of the movement was interesting to me. My husband, who is more of a punk/hardcore guy, thought it was a bit boring and melodramatic.

THE BRUTALIST – Really good. It’s actually worth sitting in a movie theater for 3.5 hours to see this epic film. (There is an intermission to get up and stretch your legs.) Adrian Brody is fantastic. It’s a think piece. And worth seeing on the big screen for the Carrera (Italy) scenes alone. It will give you something to talk about at dinner. Brutalist style architecture is currently on Trump’s enemies list, so it’s au courant as well. If The Brutalist wins Best Picture, I’ll be OK with it.

CONCLAVE – I already posted about this film. We both liked it. Ralph Fiennes is terrific as the Head Cardinal in charge of overseeing the weird, secretive process the Catholic Church uses to pick a new pope. The scenes of Rome at night and the interior of the Vatican were my favorite parts. Isabella Rossellini plays a woman with the no real power (it’s the Catholic Church after all) but she plays her small part convincingly. I don’t really think it should win Best Picture, but who knows…

DUNE: PART TWO – Neither of us liked it. It’s long and boring and not our genre. In my opinion this movie is for younger people. All effects, no heart. 

EMILIA PÉREZ – Really good! And so unusual. My husband said it was the only musical he’s ever truly liked. They don’t burst into big voice belting, but just kind of quietly sing/talk at key moments. It’s very effective. I actually wish we’d seen it on a big screen rather than on TV. There are a lot of dark scenes in Mexico City that would’ve been cool to see in a big dark theater. Women play all the major roles, so it passes the Bechdel Test with flying colors. I’m definitely OK with this one winning Best Picture. I heard there’s been a major controversy with one of the stars and her very bad recent tweets, but I don’t know the details.

I’M STILL HERE – This film was hard to find. We finally saw it in an AMC theater some distance from our house. If you haven’t heard, it’s Brazilian, so you have to read subtitles the entire time (unless you happen to speak Portuguese). It’s a true story based on a family whose father/husband gets “disappeared” (aka abducted and likely killed) during a time of military dictatorship in Brazil in the 1970s. Honestly, it cuts a little too close to the bone given our country’s current flirtation with dictatorship. It’s a slippery slope from granting presidential immunity and failing to enforce existing laws, to unjustified imprisonments, torture and unmarked mass graves. History repeats itself.

NICKEL BOYS – Very artsy film about a very tough subject. It’s mostly shot “as if” you are sitting in the eyeballs of the main characters—two Black boys in an abusive Florida reform school in the Jim Crow south. I have had bouts of vertigo in the past so I have a hard time watching films with jumpy camera shots, especially when they invert or spin. I had to close my eyes a lot in this one. I’m glad I saw it, but can’t say I actually enjoyed it.

THE SUBSTANCE – This is a horror movie people! Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley are fantastic, but I had to close my eyes a LOT. It’s “body horror” so a lot of gross stuff happens. If you’re OK with that, it’s worth seeing. There are a whole lot of women (including some I know and love) who put tremendous effort and money into defying nature with Botox and fillers, crazy face and body treatments, and actual scalpel surgeries. It’s a window into this mentality that goes completely off the rails as the movie progresses. Not Best Picture material, but worth streaming. (Also, tidbit for GenXers: Margaret Qualley is Andy McDowell’s daughter! She’s gorgeous like her mom, but in a completely different way.)

WICKED – I’ve already posted about Wicked. I loved it! It probably won’t win Best Picture because it was a huge blockbuster, but it probably should because it brought so much enjoyment, just like Barbie did last year. As previously mentioned, my husband doesn’t like musicals and even he said Wicked was “good.” From the moment Ariana Grande dropped down into Oz (a land of gingers) in a pink soap bubble carriage, I was all in.

And the winner is: The Brutalist – it’s a tour de force in filmmaking (made with a relatively tiny budget). I’ll see if I’m right on March 2. What are other people thinking? What have you liked?