As the 95th Academy Awards wraps up, here’s a look at the films that Hollywood’s been raving about all year.

Written by Samwel Rasheed Tan
March 13, 2023

*The eventual winner of Best Picture, Everything Everywhere All At Once. Image Credit: Elevation Pictures/ Allyson Riggs.*

From action-filled sci-fi blockbusters to classic autobiographical and anti-war entries, this year’s contenders for the 2023 Best Picture Awards are looking as colorful as ever. Each of them brimming with quality in its own right and reflect ideas about the state of film in this past year. Familiarize yourself with them to level up your upcoming movie night.

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Starting with the eventual winner, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert's existential sci-fi Everything, Everywhere All At Once, or EEAO for short was poised as the heavy favorite for the award. The film has not just taken public acclaim but is also tearing it up in the award scene through the year. In case you haven't seen it yet, EEAO tells the story of Evelyn Wang as she deals with the absurdities of the multiverse, her family falling apart, and the worst of them all—taxes.

A film truly like no other, it has been the talk all year as it resonates with the public, tackling complex themes such as generational trauma and existentialism delivered in a grandiose spectacle that would most think that it was backed by blockbuster companies.

Besides the coveted top award, it has already bagged multiple notable awards such as the Critics Choice Awards, British Academy Film Awards, both Directors and Producers Guild Awards, and more. This recognition and success have paved the way for a full comeback of Ke Huy Quan and the revitalization of Michelle Yeoh. Their win is a great reflection of how far Hollywood has come, but also a celebration of originality and creative thinkers, no matter how weird they are.

The Banshees of Inisherin

What if your best friend suddenly wants to stop being friends with you? That is the plot and question Martin McDonagh poses with this latest collaboration with Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson named, “The Banshees of Inisherin”.

Taking place in only one large location, what EEAO has for scale and spectacles, The Banshees of Inisherin trades for a minimalism and intimacy, allowing the characters to bounce off one another using McDonagh’s piercing screenplay. A unique and fresh picture in contrast to the current sea of grand gestures and overstatements, proving that movies can come from anything.

While it didn’t take anything home during the Oscars night, the film has already won Golden Globe and is currently the highest-rated picture among other nominees on Rotten Tomatoes. Remaining as a gentle reminder of how simple unique concepts can still have a place in a movie landscape filled with grandiose, color, and fantasy.

All Quiet On The Western Front

A re-adaptation of the novel of the same name. It’s about the experiences of a foot soldier in the German army in the first World War named Paul, and how their initial pride for their country soon wanes as they're engulfed in the trenches of war.

All Quiet On The Western Front is a better war film than most of its contemporaries by using the perspective of a German along with the luxury of modern sets and technologies. It doesn't glorify the patriotism that comes from war, but instead sees it as sickening— a method used to lure gullible citizens in needless bloodshed. With this picture, Netflix’s pitch for the top award has never been better.

Top Gun: Maverick

Speaking of superhero discourse, whether you like them or not it is apparent that they’re everyone and Hollywood thinks that they seem to be the only things people go to the theaters for. That is until Top Gun: Maverick.

Directed by Joseph Kosinski, the sequel sees Tom Cruise back at the cockpit as Maverick preparing to face the unknown and his past that's catching up to him. Basking in old-school summer blockbuster vibes, the sequel proved to be a technical marvel and the first huge non-comic book hit of the post-pandemic era of films. It essentially as Steven Spielberg puts it, “saved Hollywood”.

The film only won Best Sound but it will forever hold a reputation for saving the theatrical release model on its neck. A distinction like no other.

The Fabelman

Continuing the positive vibes brought by Top Gun, Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical picture was also making waves as one of the viable contenders for Best Picture. Though it didn win, it is still a magnificent watch, The Fabelmans tells the story of young Sammy Fabelman as he fuels his passion for filmmaking while dealing with puberty and bullying.

Displaying Spielberg at his most personal, the vulnerability in The Fabelmans is felt through the screen. What it hides under the guise of a “power of movies” schtick is a critical analysis of the self on how one’s passion can be double-edged as an emotional barrier for trauma—for better and worse.

While The Fabelmans may not be the first biopic at the point of view of it's creator, what it dares showcase with questions on the gift and curse that comes with being an artist, along with the context that it's point of view is one of the most important filmmakers if our time makes it stand amongst other in the subgenre.

Triangle of Sadness

Meanwhile, Ruben Ostlud’s Palme d'Or winning picture,Triangle of Sadness, was always going to be a long shot to win best picture. Still the class warfare movie about the social dynamics that come with wealth is a film that turned heads around.

A great microcosm of how modern society works, and flips it over its head. Triangle of Sadness is a sprawling satire that manages to become two films at once, a modern-age influencer-induced anarchist black comedy, and a survival movie that deconstructs societal roles held together by hallmark performances by Harris Dickenson and Dolly De Leon respectively.

Elvis

The biopic of the King of Rock and Roll. In any previous years biopics may be considered as heavy favorites to win big come Oscar night, considering the Academy's bias towards the genre—with a whopping 16 wins on its belt. A testament to the quality of the films in that genre, and Elvis may be no different.

While it took some drastic liberties, Elvis captured what made the King so dreamlike and messianic on screen. It avoids the drowsiness that comes with most biopics with it, opting instead to capture cultural importance and power that jolted America and the rest of the world in awe.

Women Talking

Sarah Polley's latest entry is in the middle of the pack when it comes to contending with the win, but it's as good as the rest. Women Talking is set in a religious isolated colony and chronicles a group of women as they attempt to hold on to their faith and find solidarity when they deal with the sexual assaults done by their own colony's men.

To deal with such a heavy subject matter, Polley employed the film filled with a cast by the likes of Claire Foy, Rooney Mara, Jessie Buckley, and Frances McDormand to name a few. Resulting in a much richer story to be seen.

Polley delivers a blunt and aggressive movie powered by a star-studded cast to get her themes to the screen. What forms is a collective scream, not just out of frustration, but of anger, and resiliency of the hardships women have gone through. Its deafening nature makes Women Talking so poignant and effective, making it an ever so important movie even beyond its nomination.

*Cate Blanchett makes undeniable noise in "Tàr". Image Credit: Focus Features/Florian Hoffmeister.*

Tár

Cate Blanchett is a tour de force in this fictional biopic. In a plane where controversy and meaningful art collide. The movie chronicles the life of Lydia Tar, played by Blanchett, an icon in the classical music scene, and her fall from grace after a series of controversies.

On the surface, Tár confronts the ramifications of cancel-culture, its rabidness and effects on the mental state. However, what's underneath is an analysis of the problematic genius worship that has plagued our current times—how it overshadows supporting elements a work of great renown, how much the contributions of the auteur to a great work often get overblown, and the separation of a great work from its auteur.

These themes paired with a splendid performance by Cate Blanchett are symphonized into one of the most terrific character studies to date.

Avatar: The Way of Water

The long-awaited sequel of James Cameron’s blockbuster hit. Cameron is no stranger to winning Oscars as he’s made one of the record-holder winners for it (Titanic). This time he seems to have hit The Academy's taste buds yet again with Avatar: The Way of Water.

The sequel, much like its release, is set more than a decade after the first one, following a much more mature Jake Sully, now as a father, protector, and leader, along with the headaches, triumphs, and heartaches that follow him.

Delivering eye-candy imagery to the screen in its full hefty runtime and perhaps the largest fictional scale of environmental activism put in a movie. A spectacle through and through, it demands the attention of the viewer and lets them immerse in the spectacular world that Cameron has meticulously built. Avatar: Way of Water is a nomination that earned not just its place but also the profits it raked.


Samwel Rasheed Tan is a fourth-year student currently taking BA Communication (Convergent Media) at Far Eastern University. His creative specialty lies in media analysis and arts writing. He is currently an intern for Art+ Magazine and is expected to graduate from his degree this coming July.

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