Special Edition: Ranking the Oscar Noms
Cansler Culture does rankings, now. We're hip like that.
The 96th Academy Awards are on Sunday, and the brain behind Cansler Culture has watched 13/14 of the films nominated for Best Picture and Best International Feature Film, so I’m bringing you my rankings ahead of the program.
(Don’t worry, I still have words on Dune coming Monday.)
Best Picture
This might be the first year in a while where I would rate all nominees positively. Still, some are better than others…
10. The Holdovers
This 1970s-set film lives and dies by pastiche. Unfortunately, I am a pastiche hater. There is enough working elsewhere to make me overall enjoy this one, though.
9. American Fiction
This film does such an amazing job satirizing contemporary identity politics in…in its A-plot. But American Fiction also has a B-plot, which arguably takes up more of the film and is much less focused on commentary. The B-plot serves an important thematic purpose, but juxtaposed with the A-plot, is simply not as engaging.
8. Barbie
No more words need be written about this one. It’s good but not great.
7. Killers of the Flower Moon
Martin Scorsese made the decision while making this film to ensure it centered the Osage characters. That’s an understandable goal, but it also, unfortunately, makes for a less compelling film.
6. The Zone of Interest
Many critics have noted that The Zone of Interest makes one point early on and then keeps making it. That does hold it back, but only just. The point it’s making, after all, is important—and underdiscussed. Plus, the ending is phenomenal.
5. Maestro
See this Cansler Culture on the latest in queer cinema.
4. Poor Things
I love nothing more than going into a surreal and inventive comedy thinking it’s a straight-up tragic drama. Extra points for sheer visual creativity and Mark Ruffalo.
3. Anatomy of a Fall
See this Cansler Culture.
2. Past Lives
This one works in the same way so many great contemporary plays do—the story feels so small but the emotions feel so large. And yet, unlike other similar works, I can only imagine this one as a work of cinema.
1. Oppenheimer
I think watching this film may have been the first time I ever understood what a “magnum opus” was. Christopher Nolan has created three hours of relentless perfection and then caps it all off with commentary about himself. I knew when I left the theater it would be ranked here.
Best International Feature Film
This is, as a reminder, a deeply flawed category. (Read why here.)
But these are still solid films, so I figured I’d rank them as well.
Not Ranked: The Teacher’s Lounge (Germany)
I couldn’t for the life of me find this film available to watch anywhere in the US. I will assume it’s good.
4. Io Capitano (Italy)
The story of two teenage boys attempting to migrate from Senegal to Europe, this is one of those capital-I Important stories that is hard to watch but difficult to look away from.
3. The Zone of Interest (UK)
See above.
2. Society of the Snow (Spain)
There’s an extreme commitment here to showing, as realistically as possible, the story of the Uruguayan rugby team that was stranded in the Andes for 72 days in 1972. It’s harrowing, but has a clever narrative trick and packs so much emotion that it’s truly great to watch.
1. Perfect Days (Japan)
Centered on a man in Tokyo whose job is cleaning the city’s iconic public restrooms, this film seems simple on the surface, and structurally, it stays simple throughout. But emotionally, the simplicity is a red herring. In fact, it might be the most complicated of all of these films. And probably would have made my top three were it nominated for Best Picture.
That’s all for this special edition of Cansler Culture. Let me know what I got wrong by replying to this email or reaching out directly.