The Academy Awards

The Academy Awards - Ranking of Best Picture Nominees

This year was the first year I managed to watch all the Best Picture nominees before the ceremony, and so, I decided to rank them and writing a little something about each of them. I'll rank them from the one I least liked to the one I most liked. 

8 - Bohemian Rhapsody - directed by Bryan Singer

Bohemian Rhapsody is one of the most underwhelming films I have seen this year. There is almost no cinematic value in this film, with sloppy editing, terrible directing and horrible writing. This is a film clearly just made to pander to Queen fans, with no depth given to it. It's a complete disservice to the legacy and life of Freddie Mercury and it reaches a point where it's almost offensive in its lack of depth. It's a perfect example of how Hollywood mishandles LGBTQ stories for their own profit. It's certainly appalling how it's nominated for Best Picture. The only reason it's nominated is probably only because of how much money it made. It's definitely the worst nominee this year and probably of the last few years.

7 - Green Book - directed by Peter Farrelly

Green Book is a very well-made feel-good film that deals very delicately with the issue of racism, telling the moving story of an Italian-American man who starts working for an African-American pianist and the friendship that blossoms between the two. This is a good film, but I feel that it's a bit misplaced in time in the way that it neither gets out of its own comfort zone in the way it deals with the issue of racism nor it forces the audience to make a true introspection about the issue, always analyzing the issue in a somewhat superficial way. In a year when we had great films that tackle this issue brilliantly and unapologetically, like BlacKkKlansman, Blindspotting and Sorry to Bother You, this film feels a bit outdated, and so, I question its place as a Best Picture nominee. Despite these flaws, I do think it's a good film with an important story to tell, maybe it would have been more impactful a few years (maybe decades) ago.

6 - Black Panther - directed by Ryan Coogler

Black Panther is a very good super-hero film that portrays the continent of Africa and its people as free from the shackles of colonialism. It champions the independence and strength of the African people, and, for that, it deserves to be applauded. It's an empowering story that I think we were in need of. Most people disagree that it shouldn't have been nominated for Best Picture, but I disagree. It's very well directed, has amazing cinematography, has incredible production design, and portrays the African people as strong and willing to fight and defend their land, not as helpless victims that need the help of Europeans to solve their problems. It's also refreshing to see a super-hero film being nominated, and one with a very modern message. Were there better super-hero films that deserved more to be nominated in previous years? Yes, but that doesn't take away its merits as a good film.

5 - Vice - directed by Adam McKay

Vice is an incredibly intelligent and complex political drama about a political figure that most don't pay attention to. It's about the "silent man" that stays away from the spotlight. Although a flawed film and certainly a biased one, this is a very important film that hopefully makes people more aware of men (and women) like this and makes them more aware of how urgent it is to save our democracy. Some people might argue that it was only nominated because of the liberal bias that the Academy is known to have, but this is a very good and thought-provoking film that deserves to be nominated. With extraordinary performances, especially from Christian Bale, this is certainly one of the best of the year.

4 - A Star is Born - directed by Bradley Cooper

A Star is Born is one of the most beautiful films of the year. It possesses such emotional power and honesty and is able to tell a story that we have seen three times before in an incredibly new and fresh way. Bradley Cooper does an outstanding job as both the director and the lead actor, and Lady Gaga is astounding in her first film role. This is certainly one of my favorite films of the year, with beautiful cinematography, beautiful soundtrack, and very powerful performances. This is certainly one of the best films of the year.

3 - BlacKkKlansman - directed by Spike Lee

BlacKkKlansman is the film that deals with racism that should be the frontrunner to win the Oscar. Spike Lee tells the harrowing true story of a black police officer who infiltrated in the KKK, a story that has numerous parallelisms to what is happening nowadays in America. It has a brilliant screenplay, is beautifully directed, and has incredible performances. It's a true wake-up call to not only America but the entire world that we need to fight the forces of racism. It's a film that truly makes the viewer uncomfortable and aware of themselves, truly making us think about the issue. It digs deep into the hateful rot present in our society and reveals it to us. And it does that brilliantly.  This is certainly one of the best films of the year and one of the most important.

2 - The Favourite - directed by Yorgos Lanthimos

The Favourite is one of the most brilliant and revolutionary films of the year. Yorgos Lanthimos tells an incredibly witty story about female power about two women who fight for the favor of the Queen. It's smartly written and beautifully directed - in fact, it's probably the most beautiful film by Lanthimos. Every performance is absolutely brilliant, possessing some of the strongest female performances of the year. It brilliantly subverts the dignity of the period drama genre, distorting it and showing the true rot inside the British monarchy and aristocracy, being an extremely intelligent critique of power and those who hold or seek it. Everything in this film is done to perfection and it's definitely one of my favorites of the year and a film that will certainly stay in film history as one of the greatest of this year.

1 - Roma - directed by Alfonso Cuarón

Roma is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen and I have never been so moved by a film's beauty and emotional power before. Alfonso Cuarón truly crafted a masterpiece with this film that deserves to be shown in museums all over the world, because it's a true work of art, in this film about an indigenous maid, the family she works for, and Mexican society as a whole. This is the kind of film that appears rarely from time to time and has such a deep impact on us that it almost feels like nothing is more real than it. There aren't enough words in the world to express how I feel about this film and how I love it. There is just so much that can be said about it. It has so many layers, having a brilliant and powerful screenplay. It has the most beautiful cinematography of the year and some of the most powerful performances of the year. It's truly a beautiful film that deserves to be nominated and win the Academy Award. I will never get tired of thanking Alfonso Cuarón for making this incredible film, and so it goes again: Thank you so, so much, Alfonso Cuarón!