All Oscars 2020 Best Picture Nominees Ranked!
Will Parasite win? Or 1917? Or Joker?
Tonight, the 92nd Academy Awards will premiere, and I have my ballot ready to go. I am fully prepared to get 90% of these predictions wrong, but that's beside the point.
Now, this year, there are nine nominations for Best Picture. I decided that instead of merely listing the nominees or devoting a whole article trying to predict the winner, I decided to make an article ranking these movies and giving you some of my thoughts on them.
9. The Irishman
Unfortunately, this is a movie that I didn't particularly love. While many have found this movie to be "true cinema" and one of the best epic films in recent years, I found this movie to be overly long with too many characters to keep track of.
This movie sees the reunion of Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino, and while their performances are great and most of the de-aging CGI is quite impressive, this is a movie that I didn't enjoy as much as everyone else.
It's not a bad movie by any means, and I will revisit it in the future, but as of now, it is my least favorite of the nominees.
8. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
There is a lot to enjoy about this movie. It has some incredible performances from Leonardo Dicaprio and Brad Pitt, who share some great onscreen chemistry as their characters. They manage to be hilarious in their roles, and this movie is very entertaining.
But it's not one of my favorites because the story feels somewhat empty, but this movie is a love letter to 1960s Hollywood, and a lot of the sequences are quite fun to watch. It also has one of the best final acts of a film I've ever seen, and I don't think I've laughed harder.
7. Little Women
What a film! This movie has an entertaining story and a great ensemble cast. Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, and Laura Dern are the stand-outs of the film, and it is just such a beautiful, well-told story that managed to adapt the source material very well.
Greta Gerwig deserved an Oscar nomination for Best Director, and so much of this movie is just absolutely delightful. There are a lot of sad moments as well, but the tone of this movie is fun, the portrayal of women is executed perfectly, and this movie is a feel-good ride.
6. Jojo Rabbit
I just don't get it–I have no idea how Taika Waititi was able to make a film that deals with some very dark subject matter while also making it funny in a way that doesn't come across as offensive or "making fun" of the events.
Jojo Rabbit gives us a look at World War II from the perspective of a child. Our main actor, Roman Griffin Davis, offers a fantastic performance, and there is a lot of fun to be had with the premise, as our main character is a young aspiring Nazi with Adolf Hitler as an imaginary best friend.
While the film can be gut-bustingly hilarious at times, it knows when to be sad, and the effects of the war aren't shown in very sad ways. It has the best PG-13 F-bomb I've ever seen in a film, and it's a heartwarming story about love and acceptance.
5. Marriage Story
There aren't too many films that feel wholly realistic. Many films provide us with a form of escapism, and even dramas with real people can sometimes be exaggerated for dramatic purposes, but this? This is a down-to-earth, genuine story about a couple going through a divorce.
Everything about this film is so meticulously crafted. The characters are so fleshed out that they feel like real people, and every single little hiccup and pause in a dialogue scene adds to the feeling that we're a fly on the wall watching actual events.
Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver give some of the best performances of their careers in this film. They vanish in their roles, and our supporting cast is quite good as well. This film manages to be funny but sad at the same time, and there's an argument scene which is one of my favorite scenes in any movie ever.
4. Ford v Ferrari
Now, I watched this movie about four months before its release, and I was dying to talk about it, but the NDA I signed prevented me from doing so–but when the credits started rolling, I knew that I had gotten the chance to watch something exceptional.
This film tells the true story of Ford engineers who have to try to build a racecar that can beat Ferrari at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race, and this is a film that can appeal to virtually anyone, from the average Joe to the passionate cinephiles (me).
Christian Bale and Matt Damon have some fantastic chemistry with each other, and this film remains interesting during the dialogue scenes and its many thrilling race sequences. It's an adrenaline-packed ride with a lot of human drama and very fleshed-out characters, and it was a great time from "start your engines" to the finish line.
3. 1917
This World War I thriller/drama is directed and edited to look like two continuous shots. There is one time cut in the middle, but besides that, everything appears to be a long, unbroken take, and this is one of the most impressive filmmaking techniques I've seen.
Sam Mendes creates a miracle in filmmaking with scenes where you can't wrap your head around how they achieved individual shots. On top of Roger Deakins's stunning cinematography and the masterful work behind the camera, we have a thrilling story and some great performances.
2. Joker
With the abundance of comic book films we've been getting in recent years, this is a film that puts a unique twist on the genre by taking the most iconic villain from the Batman comics and turning it into a brooding, character-driven drama.
It's a dark, unsettling film led by the best performance I've seen all year–Joaquin Phoenix's take on the Joker is sympathetic but frightening, and he commands the screen with a role that he takes and makes his own.
The cinematography and score of the film are exquisite, and it has a lot of connections to modern-day politics with a message about how we treat certain people. It depicts the role that society plays in creating the monsters we fear, all wrapped up in a psychological thriller of a comic book film.
And now for my favorite Best Picture nomination.
1. Parasite (기생충)
Now, this film has mostly been overlooked by mainstream American audiences (I have yet to meet anyone who has heard of it), but make no mistake–this film is mind-blowing. It's in Korean, but don't let that deter you from watching the best screenplay of the year in action.
This film is a satirical look at the differences in class structure; it begins as an entertaining black comedy of sorts, but halfway through, a shift appears in the narrative, and as certain events occur, the film becomes crazier and more suspenseful.
It is, without a doubt, one of the most impressive films of the year.
Now, which movie do I think will win Best Picture? In my other Oscars 2020 article, I predicted Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, but now, I think it might be 1917.
What do you think will win? Let me know by tweeting me, @TheJonathanSim. I can't wait to watch the show tonight. Thanks for reading.
About the Creator
Jonathan Sim
Film critic. Lover of Pixar, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Marvel, DC, Back to the Future, and Lord of the Rings.
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