2023 Academy Awards Nomination Breakdown: Best Picture (Part Two)

The Academy Awards are airing live on March 12, and for the first time, I have set out to break down every nominee in every category in order to assess, as accurately as I can, who and what has the best chance of winning. Today I will finish by discussing the nominees for Best Picture!

The Fabelmans

“A coming-of-age story about a young man’s discovery of a shattering family secret and an exploration of the power of movies to help us see the truth about each other and ourselves.”

An emotionally resonant journey that brings us through the early life of famed filmmaker Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans shows us a fictionalized version of how the man himself became one of the most accomplished directors of all time. Through the perspective of budding moviemaker Sammy Fabelman, we get a very personal look at his family life, school days, and direct inspirations (including some anecdotes lifted straight from real life!). Movies are dreams that you never forget, and I won’t be forgetting this one anytime soon.

Everything Everywhere All At Once

“An aging Chinese immigrant is swept up in an insane adventure, where she alone can save what’s important to her by connecting with the lives she could have led in other universes.”

What more can be said about Everything Everywhere All At Once? I’ve seen it five times, and it gets better with every viewing. This is a story about aging, immigration and human connection, done beautifully with the backdrop of an insane multiversal war. This film doesn’t stop for a second over its two-and-a-half-hour runtime, and whether that’s to your liking or your distaste, it commands an undeniable respect for its scale and vision.

2023 Academy Awards Nomination Breakdown: Best Director

The Academy Awards are airing live on March 12, and for the first time, I have set out to break down every nominee in every category in order to assess, as accurately as I can, who and what has the best chance of winning. Today I will be discussing the nominees for Best Director!

Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin

Martin McDonagh has made some spectacular, and simultaneously polarizing films since he made his feature film debut with 2008’s In Bruges. Now, he’s reunited with both stars (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson) for The Banshees of Inisherin, a dour tragicomedy, which is precisely where McDonagh’s skills lie. McDonagh, whose background is in playwriting, is highly skilled in threading the needle between darkness and humor, and it’s more evident here than it is anywhere else. Once you get past the Irish accents — trust me, it will take a moment to adjust — you’ll get hit with the genius of McDonagh’s stellar screenplay, chock-full of quotable idioms and engaging character moments that will have you contemplating for days to come, and marked direction, which immerses you beautifully in the quasi-fictional world of 1920s Ireland. I wrote in my review that “no one is better at communicating that sorrow, coupled with the funny little quirks of existence than Martin McDonagh, and Banshees is certainly him at his best.” This is one of six nominations McDonagh has received throughout his career, along with one win (in 2006, for his short film Six Shooter).

Read my review of The Banshees of Inisherin here.

The Daniels, Everything Everywhere All At Once

This directing duo is nothing short of astonishing, and some of the most interesting creative minds whose work I’ve had the pleasure of seeing come to life on-screen. Nothing makes me happier, sadder and silly like Everything Everywhere All At Once, and I truly believe that the Daniels have captured lightning in a bottle. Their recognition at the awards this year is much deserved.

2023 Academy Awards Nomination Breakdown: Best Original Screenplay

The Academy Awards are airing live on March 12, and for the first time, I have set out to break down every nominee in every category in order to assess, as accurately as I can, who and what has the best chance of winning. Today I will be discussing the nominees for Best Original Screenplay!

The Banshees of Inisherin

Martin McDonagh began his entertainment career as a playwright, so it stands to reason that his darkly hilarious script for Banshees would snag a nod at this year’s awards. Tragedy and comedy are a tricky combination, but McDonagh’s empathetic character work and excellent scene building are key to striking that balance.

Read my review of The Banshees of Inisherin here.

Everything Everywhere All At Once

One of the kookiest and zaniest scripts of the year (and perhaps one of the most ambitious of all time) is the one that made me cry, gasp and laugh the hardest I ever have at a first watch. Everything Everywhere All At Once is a visual treat, but everything starts with the script — and the Daniels know how to elicit emotion better than most. Its shocks are its strengths, but the real value lies in the passion, clearly present all over this movie.

Class Satire Reaches New Heights with “Triangle of Sadness” (Review)

The lives of the rich and famous is a concept that we can’t help but fantasize about. The alluring nature of a lifestyle we have never (nor likely will never) experience is a subject we love exploring and glamorizing in entertainment, which often romanticizes the status of some truly unhappy people. If you want quasi-realism and some truly brutal takedowns, watch Succession.

But for every fantasy, there must be a grounded reality. There must be a cynical look into the lifestyle that many idolize and strive for, and these days it seems like there’s a new one every year. There’s a certain irony to a movie or show about how terrible the über rich can be, that is usually made by (and/or starring) certain members of the said one percent. This year’s ironic presentation is Triangle of Sadness, already heavily lauded before it even made its way to the United States.