It’s the Oscars this weekend, and one of my guilty pleasures is watching movies. When the real world gets to be too much, a great movie is the perfect escape.
I don’t know if it’s just me getting older, or if others find this as well, but movies have changed. They’re filled with violence and sex, which is not really new, but the violence seems straight out of a comic book or a video game and the sex, well the sex verges on pornographic at times.
Both of those things are true in one of the front runners, the movie Anora, about a prostitute who falls in love with the son of a Russian oligarch. I must admit the movie was entertaining, even if it seemed overdone to me. This movie has it all – humour, love, suspense and the aforementioned sex and violence. I won’t be surprised if Anora takes home the best picture Oscar.
But my personal front runner for best picture is A Complete Unknown – the Bob Dylan movie. Timothee Chalamet is fantastic as Dylan – my favourite for best actor – and the story is a reminder of better days and hopeful times. It’s a perfect time capsule for the early 1960s. If Chalamet pulls it off, he will be one of the youngest actors ever to win best actor.
I know The Brutalist may take the best movie award and I certainly admire Adrian Brody, but I didn’t get up the gumption to watch it, given it is three-and-a-half hours long and is about a Holocaust survivor. Brody has already won the best actor Oscar (at the same age Chalamet is now) for a similar role in the movie The Pianist, so I hope they go with someone different.
I didn’t make it to another nominated film, Wicked, either, but for completely different reasons. I saw the musical live in London a few years ago and I didn’t want to mess with those memories. I loved the play – it’s the back story to the wicked witch from The Wizard of Oz, both a prequel and a sequel. If it comes anywhere near the London performance, I’m sure the movie is first class.
I did watch Conclave – the story of the process of voting in a new pope – and found it quite entertaining and enlightening. The best part of the movie, in my opinion, was the very minor role played by Isabella Rossellini, a strong candidate in the supporting actress category. Ralph Fiennes also has a stellar turn in his role here and he has been nominated three times without a win, so I could be happy to see him win best actor.
I also watched Emilia Perez, which is extremely entertaining, but also a bit disturbing and sad. It’s half a musical, but not really quite a musical, which makes it somewhat difficult to explain. The title role is played by Karla Sofía Gascón, a transgender woman actress, whose character is also a transgender woman. She created a controversy with some previous comments and while she was once tipped to win best actress, her words have hurt the movie’s chances.
Another nominated movie is The Substance, one of the weirdest movies I’ve seen in years. I’ve loved Demi Moore, the star, since the 1980s, so I knew I had to see the movie. For the first half of the film I was entranced. But the second half was bizarre – so bizarre it didn’t hold me. I would be delighted to see Moore take the best actress award as pay back for a long career in which she was groundbreaking and a leader, but for which she was never praised.
I didn’t see Dune: Part Two, I'm Still Here or Nickel Boys, which make up the rest of the best picture nominees. But I did see A Real Pain, which wasn’t nominated for best picture, but includes my favourite of the best supporting actors, Kieron Culkin, one of the stars of Succession, on TV.
I’m mainly picking him because I loved him on Succession, but A Real Pain was also a quirky movie that I enjoyed. It’s neither pornographic nor ultra-violent, but it does tell a touching story of two brothers. Culkin’s TV brother Jeremy Strong is also nominated for a different movie, The Apprentice, which I did not see.
In sum, here are my favourites: Best Picture, A Complete Unknown, Best Actor, Timothee Chalamet, Best Actress, Demi Moore, Best Supporting Actor, Kieron Culkin, Best Supporting Actress, Isabella Rossellini.
The red carpet starts Sunday afternoon, with the awards given out starting at 4 p.m.
Tracy Sherlock is a freelance journalist who writes about education and social issues. Read her blog or email her [email protected].
