The Sparks of Joy in the Best Picture Nominees
With only a few days until the 97th Academy Awards, here are my thoughts on the ten Best Picture winners in alphabetical order.
I will be breaking these reviews into three sections starting with Core Sparks of Joy which is focused on writing, directing, and acting and the like, then Surface Sparks of Joy, for outer elements like hair and makeup, costuming, cinematography, etc., and finally with The Dull which is what didn’t spark joy or why it didn’t spark joy.
ANORA
The Core Sparks of Joy
To fall in love with this film is to fall in love with Anora herself, from the moment the camera pans to her bathed in pink light, to how she calculates her way through her job, to how she takes no crap from anybody behind the scenes. You feel her own joy as her quest through Las Vegas is all the fun someone can ask for, and ends like a fairytale. This is masterfully handled by the radiant Mikey Madison, who evenly matches with an ensemble who are all experts in this form of a comedy cream filling held within a heartbreaking shell. Watching henchman Igor slowly fall for Anora in the background as she goes through the throws of losing what she thought were her dreams coming true is a mirror for us as we continue to support Anora and feel for her every step of the way. It all leads to the film deserving its devastating ending as you watch the fall after the high of the adventure our characters just went on.
The Surface Sparks of Joy
This film is lovingly weaved with the joys of a fun soundtrack that may give you a new favorite song, glittery aesthetic in the form of gorgeous shots and tinsel shining in Anora’s hair, and physical comedy that will have you rolling.
The Dull
I am hard pressed to come up with much in this category. This is one of my favorite films of the year, and I find that this film easily appeals to most. This is honestly the one I would be happiest winning the big prize.
THE BRUTALIST
The Core Sparks of Joy
A film that is a feat to behold, especially on the biggest screen you can manage. The Brutalist is an ode to filmmaking, a love letter to the techniques, to the storytelling, to the process. It will have your eyes wide and mouth agape as you take in what is truly an American epic, that shows the rise of the American dream, the fragility of it, and challenges that maybe the American dream isn’t real after all. Adrien Brody disappears into our tentpole László Toth, a man attempting not to be broken as he flees the immense hardships of the Holocaust, who is taken on an up and down journey of trying to survive doing what he excels at, no matter what. Brody is supported by a strong cast in Guy Pierce and Felicity Jones, as those around Toth who both bring him up and tear him down in various ways. This film is a journey not too often seen, and I imagine it will become a classic as it ages.
The Surface Sparks of Joy
This is beautifully punctuated by some incredible feats in crafts. The cinematography is expansive and lush in its coloring, the incredible soundtrack knows when to be boisterous and when to be soothing, and the production and costume design made it feel like I was in a museum, looking at clothing and furniture from the time period, as if I knew that this was exactly what early-midcentury Philadelphia looked like. The intermission too, is a punctuation. A much needed comma, a breather that creates a fresh perspective on act two that is so rarely given to us in film anymore.
The Dull
While many might believe the length to be a negative, the three and half hours weren’t as felt as you would think. Instead, the dullness came in the pacing of the second half. I find that much care is taken in the first, and yet we seem to be skipping over some things and lingering over others in the second. It leads to an epilogue that while poignant, making you think back about what you’ve witnessed, it teeters on being exposition heavy, telling us instead of showing us the meaning of the film.
CONCLAVE
The Core Sparks of Joy
If you think that a movie about cardinals dueling it out for the top spot isn’t your type of film, I ask you to think again. I was so sure this would be boring (even though I heard otherwise) that I didn’t bother to see it in theaters knowing it was an Oscar contender. So I sighed and watched it at home on streaming, knowing it was getting nominated. Boy, was I surprised.
A political thriller like no other, Conclave holds a tension in its robes up to the very end. Cardinal Lawrence is an avatar for us as the audience, as he attempts to traverse the death of the latest pope and selecting a new one. A not so simple process, as conservative, centrist, and liberal men vote again and again to come to a majority on who they agree is best to stand in their most important position. You hang on every character’s word, edge of your seat as you hear drama that ruins one cardinal, and as Cardinal Lawrence breaks protocol to find the truth in the underlying turmoil. I had started to embroider something believing I would be bored, and found that I didn’t get as much crafting done as I had thought I would.
The Surface Sparks of Joy
I started to feel that this film might have something to it when in the first few scenes you are met with a minimalist yet effective score, and an almost strict three-color palette that emphasises a velvety shade of red your eyes are automatically drawn to.
The Dull
This is still not a subject matter I am personally in love with, and while the actors are totally fine (who doesn’t love Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini), there isn’t anyone I felt super connected to while watching. This is an incredibly fine watch that is worth your time, but it still wasn’t something that gave me large amounts of joy in the end.
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN
The Core Sparks of Joy
A film I went into with limited joy as I’ve never been a fan of Bob Dylan, I was pleasantly surprised to find this to be the most soothing biopic I’ve ever seen. The tone of the film, which fortunately is not cradle-to-grave like many biopics before it, is as gentle as the folk music it promotes for most of it. Timothee Chalamet embodies Dylan as best he can, embracing each element from his fingernails to the way he plays his harmonica. His care for the role is evident. The drama is minimal, with everything happening at a neutral pace that is neither boring or exciting. You are simply sliding along the strings of a guitar as we go from year to year in Dylan’s early adult life, coming across the likes of Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, and Monica Barbaro as they love, lose and battle (softly) with Dylan as he rises in fame and eventually goes electric. Everyone, especially when it comes to music, is all so talented in their own right that watching them is simply a treat.
The Surface Sparks of Joy
The music in this is plenty and yet, it doesn’t seem to drag considering how many performances there are. Timothee’s voice takes an edge off of Dylan’s songs for those who aren’t a fan of the musician’s voice. It all felt incredibly mellow.
The Dull
While this movie is super relaxing, and it seems like something I would put on if I’m stuck sick on the couch, it doesn’t do anything overly daring or off the beaten path of the usual. It is a fine film, worthy of being nominated, and yet nothing here worth going all the way to a win.
DUNE: PART TWO
The Core Sparks of Joy
Denis Villeneuve brought the epic into fine blockbuster form with this cinematic delight. The film continues the quiet politics of the first film and blows them up into something spectacular that is a wild and sandy ride from beginning to end. The acting is arresting, and we are immediately invested in the unrest between the people. I was not disappointed at all that I rushed to watch the first one at home so that I could experience this in theaters.
The Surface Sparks of Joy
The film truly engulfs you in the world of Arrakis with production and costume design that is scrumptious with detail. The visual effects are above the rest, with nary a second of it looking artificial. You are riding that sandworm with Paul, you are in that arena with the Harkonnen, you are steeped in the waters of life. It is a visual feast, and featuring stars like Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, and Florence Pugh doesn’t hurt either.
The Dull
Any negative points I may feel about this film is simply due to the fact that Dune, or most ‘sand sci-fi’ as a franchise is not my personal brand of science fiction. It is an incredible film that can’t quite get over that preference, but it is technically a practically perfect film and I’m glad that the Dune fans have it.
EMILIA PÉREZ
The Core Sparks of Joy
There is fortunately Zoe Saldaña, who is putting her all into this, and showing off what we’ve all known she could do since Center Stage (2000).
The Surface Sparks of Joy
There is something to be said about some of the coloring in this film, which is lovely in its richness. Some of the songs can be catchy after listening to them a couple times. The trainwreck of it all sparked some joy in the humorous disbelief that it exists as it is.
The Dull
Everything is kind of a mess as it tries to be too many things at once, in a way that is not authentic to anyone it is trying to represent. The music is really not great. The acting is fine. It is the one Oscar film I knew I did not have to show my family. It’s not worth the second viewing, or first one unless you are a completist of the Best Picture nominees. Or if you want to know what all the discourse is about.
I’M STILL HERE
The Core Sparks of Joy
A powerful true story (that unfortunately I didn’t realize until the end) of a woman trying to hold it all together for her family, this film is a display to showcase Fernanda Torres’ prowess. The beautiful subtleties that grace her face as she encounters uncertainty, loss, fear, and overflowing love is something to behold. Alongside her is a story that takes it’s time, showing a family’s interactions with each other as they play together, eat together, love together, while a strange tension lingers in the background. It is whiplash when it finally comes to the forefront, before becoming this uneasy tension once again as we continue to follow our lead’s emotional journey.
The Surface Sparks of Joy
It was a treat to see the early 70’s costuming, the bright yet not washed out scenery of Rio de Janeiro, and the care taken to show a happy family before it is torn apart.
The Dull
This film by the books is phenomenal. It’s pacing and last quarter of the film felt off to me, with sudden jumps forward causing me to realize this was a true story, and the way I approached it might have been different if I realized it earlier.
NICKEL BOYS
The Core Sparks of Joy
What may be a turn off for others in the first person cinematography is truly a treat, as we are dropped quite literally into our main characters’ shoes as they go through something awful during the Civil Rights era in Florida. We are within Elwood as he makes his way through childhood, through the possibility of going to a good college, and through the confusion and fear as he is thrust undeservingly into a school for wayward teen boys, where people of color are treated quite differently to their white counterparts. We feel his (and eventually Turner’s) limited joys and growing hardships until you watch as their worlds crash and burn and meld. The star of joy in this is Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, who hugs our main characters but with the POV, feels like she’s really hugging you.
The Surface Sparks of Joy
The cinematography is quite stunning, especially when as a film fan you try to figure out how some of the shots you were done.
The Dull
The main thing is that though the POV creates an attachment to the surroundings, it makes for a detachment sometimes from our main characters and how they are looking, how they are feeling, in certain moments. While it does its best to show this with where the ‘eyes’ move, it isn’t always that way. It also made it a tad confusing when Turner is introduced later on, and the POVs begin to switch.
This also leans on the slower side, creating a meditative pace that may not be for everyone.
THE SUBSTANCE
The Core Sparks of Joy
In many ways, this film was like a dream come true for me. It hit so many markers for what I desire in a film. The story of a woman’s fight to be relevant, especially under the spotlight of Hollywood, the overabundance of glam amid the saturation of gore as it drives the point home again and again. It swaggers with a high energy that makes you want to pump your fist and say yes! You are on that delicious high with Sue and that horrifying low with Elizabeth until the ultimate ending of simply whoa. This is all carried effortlessly by the perfect casting of Demi Moore and Margeret Qualley who give their all to these roles.
The Surface Sparks of Joy
Again, a dream come true as it delivered scrumptious coloring with the yellowest yellows and pinkest pinks and reddest reds, invoking a dreamlike Los Angeles and dreamlike perfection in Sue. The practical effects 99 percent of the time create a nearly grounded, realistic horror, eyes wide as backs split apart and grotesque evolutions occur. This is all encompassed by a score that both pumps you up and unsettles you. It is always a visual feast in aesthetics and horror.
The Dull
I personally don’t really have any, but I am aware this film is far from being for everyone. It may be too in your face, the ending may feel too camp, you may feel it to be too long, or whatever it may be, but that person who feels that way is definitely not me.
WICKED
The Core Sparks of Joy
The ultimate surprise of the 2024 season, Wicked is the third epic of the year, and the musical one at that. While a casual fan of the Broadway musical, nothing could prepare me for how I’d fall in love with the movie adaptation. This film was the pure joy of my movie season. It is led by an ensemble overflowing with charisma that makes it near impossible to not fall in love with them. The songs are equal to or (to some) greater than their original Broadway counterparts, showcasing these iconic tunes with near perfect visuals and tones. The hilarity and dancing through life of it all rises you up, up, up, until your heart is full and breaking and cheering as it reaches the end of this Act One with the utmost emotional heft.
The Surface Sparks of Joy
This is the film that had me grinning the most in theaters. Certain music sequences create such emotion, like the buzzing excitement the overture conjures in the beginning as the camera soars over Oz, like the utter delight of the library sequence showcasing Dancing Through Life, like the sob-inducing inspiration that is Defying Gravity. The costuming is precisely and preciously detailed and lovely, along with production design that realistically expands Oz past the original Wizard of Oz’s borders. The editing in this is quite remarkable, as this nearly three hour film barely feels its runtime.
The Dull
While this film is top notch for me, I do agree that the visuals in certain aspects are lacking. Strangely, they chose to wash out many scenes. While I understand the want for natural light, it makes for weirdly bright shots that take out the gorgeous colors. If they had treated everything as they had with the first main scene in Munchkinland, with its brilliant colors and balanced lighting, it would have been spectacular.
The visual effects too, particularly of the CGI animals, leave something to be desired.
This is nitpicking though, and I honestly look over these flaws since the rest is done so well.
That’s my overview of the year’s Best Picture nominees. I find it to be a pretty excellent year and I look forward to seeing how these films are celebrated at the ceremony!
What did you think of this year’s nominees? Let us knew in the comments below!
