When the Oscar nominations came out, my mom and I decided we would watch all of the movies. During this journey, I discovered new movies and watched ones I would never think of watching. Each of these films had something special about them and I’m thankful to have decided to try to watch all of the Oscar nominations. This list contains the 10 Best Pictures. Personally, I think it’s a really good batch of movies, but Oppenheimer definitely is going to win Best Picture. There were 23 other movies I did not get to include on here because this list would have been super long. If you watched these 10 movies, you’re pretty much set for the Oscars because they were also nominated for other things as well. 2023 was truly a great year for cinema, and I look forward to watching more movies this year.
American Fiction
Nominations: Best Picture, Best Leading Actor (Jeffrey Wright), Best Supporting Actor (Sterling K. Brown), Adapted Screenplay, and Original Score
Summary: Writer Thelonious “Monk” Ellison writes a book as a joke under a pseudonym because his books under his real name aren’t “black enough”. Monk decides to get it published, not because he’s proud of it, but because he wants to see if people will take his bait. And the irony of it all, it becomes super popular without anybody knowing it’s him.
My Opinion: This movie was great, I do believe that all of the nominations were deserved. Wright and Brown, who played grieving brothers in the movie, were spectacular. Even though the movie was mostly comedy, it dealt with serious issues such as racial stereotypes and Alzheimers.
Where to watch: Able to rent
Anatomy of a Fall
Nominations: Best Leading Actress (Sandra Hüller), Directing (Justine Triet), Film Editing, Best Picture, and Original Screenplay
Summary: When Sandra’s husband, Samuel, mysteriously falls out of his house window and dies, she is the number one suspect. The main witness is their blind son, Daniel.
My Opinion: A lot of this movie takes place inside of a courtroom, and those have to be my favorite scenes. They are super tense and stress me out, yet they captivate the watcher because the judges are investigating Sandra, trying to find a connection between her and her husband’s death.
Where to watch: Able to rent
Barbie
Nominations: Best Supporting Actor (Ryan Gosling), Best Supporting Actress (America Ferrera), Costume Design, and Original Songs (I’m Just Ken and What Was I Made For?)
Summary: Living “Barbie World”, everything seems perfect. Barbie has her friends, a perfect life, until she starts malfunctioning. Barbie must enter the “Real World” to find the girl who is making her malfunction. She starts to realize that the “Real World” is not what she thought it was and that everything she believed in, was flipped.
My Opinion: Being a huge fan of Greta Gerwig, I looked forward to Barbie for a solid two years. I remember putting on my pink shirt and walking into that theater, thinking it was going to be a fun comedy movie. It turned out to be an empowering feminist movie challenging the stereotypes of today’s society and managed to be a fun comedy movie at the same time. Even though Barbie is not a lot of people’s cup of tea, I still feel like it’s a necessary movie to watch in your lifetime.
Where to watch: Max or Able to rent
The Holdovers
Nominations: Best Actor (Paul Giamatti), Best Supporting Actress (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), Film Editing, Best Picture, and Original Screenplay
Summary: A teacher at a school has to stay over break to babysit the students that have nowhere to go. Unexpectedly, he begins to form a bond with a student and the head cook.
My Opinion: I feel like this movie was definitely added on to the list of the Christmas movies I will watch every year. Watching this movie feels like a warm hug, despite its depressing topics. Even though the characters might not be the happiest, they still try to be optimistic.
Where to watch: Peacock or able to rent
Killer of the Flower Moon
Nominations: Supporting Actor (Robert De Niro), Best Leading Actress (Lily Gladstone), Cinematography, Costume Design, Directing (Martin Scorsese), Film Editing, Original Score, Original Song (Wahzhazhe), Best Picture, and Production Design
Summary: After oil is discovered in Osage Land, countless murders take place of the Osage people who live there, never getting justice.
My Opinion: This movie is long. 3 and a half hours long. Despite the length of the movie, my attention never wavered. Martin Scorsese, the director, is a profound director and never fails to captivate the audience, while also having everything an amazing movie can have.
Where to watch: Apple TV or Able to rent
Maestro
Nominations: Best Leading Actor (Bradley Cooper), Best Leading Actress (Carey Mulligan), Cinematography, Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Picture, Sound, and Original Screenplay
Summary: Tells the life story of Leonard Bernstein and his wife, Felicia. Bernstein is known as one of the world’s best Maestro’s.
My opinion: I’m gonna be real, I’m not the biggest fan of this movie. I feel like it’s definitely oscar-baity. Don’t get me wrong, the acting and cinematography was good and all, it’s just the script. It wasn’t really interesting and that’s a little disappointing to me.
Where to watch: Netflix
Oppenheimer
Nominations: Best Leading Actor (Cillian Murphy), Best Supporting Actress (Emily Blunt), Best Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.), Cinematography, Costume Design, Directing, Film Editing, Makeup and Hairstyling, Original Score, Best Picture, Production Design, Sound, and Adapted Screenplay
Summary: Tells the story of Robert J. Oppenheimer and his involvement during World War II, and after, when he is being accused of being a communist.
My opinion: You just had to be there. Barbenheimer was a big deal. I was really only excited for Barbie, and decided to give Oppenheimer a chance. I saw it in IMAX and if you didn’t see Oppenheimer in IMAX, you didn’t really see it because it was amazing. The sound, the music, the acting, everything was amazing in this film.
Past Lives
Nominations: Best Picture and Original Screenplay
Summary: Childhood friends Nora and Hae Sung are reunited after Nora moved away from Korea when they were young. They talk about life and wonder what they would have been to each other in a past life.
My opinion: This movie was very sad and there were really good monologues in it that were also very sad. Also, I love how Nora’s husband was supportive about everything.
Poor Things
Nominations: Best Actress (Emma Stone), Best Supporting Actor (Mark Ruffalo), Cinematography, Costume Design, Directing, Film Editing, Makeup and Hairstyling, Original Score, Best Picture, Production Design, and Adapted Screenplay
Summary: Bella Baxter is brought back to life by a scientist and goes on an adventure with a lawyer, discovering herself and the things around her.
My opinion: This is really good! Just don’t watch it with your parents.
The Zone of Interest
Nominations: Directing, International Feature Film, Best Picture, Sound, and Adapted Screenplay
Summary: From the perspective of a Nazi family living next to a Nazi camp and acting like everything is completely normal.
My opinion: A little boring, but the content is very important. Main characters are horrible as expected. The acting from Sandra Hüller was great, who was also in Anatomy of a Fall, and I look forward to seeing her in more movies.
