The Oscar nominations came out this morning, and are, generally, as expected: Roma and The Favorite snagging a slew of them, Black Panther rising up as the first superhero movie to snag a Best Picture nomination, and the year’s showiest performances, from the likes of Christian Bale and Lady Gaga, getting mandatory nods while the legitimately great First Reformed gets relegated to a single screenplay nomination.
As an elaborate ad campaign by the film industry—a film industry that currently finds itself in a great amount of turmoil—the Oscars are rarely an accurate representation of the most significant movies of any given year. But they are, at least, a way to categorize a sprawling art form into an easily check-able checklist, and even the grumpiest among us (ME) would be hard-pressed to grumble about things like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse getting a shout-out for Best Animated Picture or “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs going up for Best Original Song.
Your trusty Mercury Cinema Strike Squad™ reviewed just about all of the major movies up for consideration that this year’s awards; below, find our takes on the Best Picture nominees.
Jenni Moore’s review of Black Panther singled out the exhilarating action flick from other entries in the superhero genre:
Marvel movies get a bad rap for their cheesy dialogue, disjointed plots, and truly absurd, CGI-crowded battle scenes. But you never know when they’ll drop a gem. Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther is one huuuge gem, and comes closer to achieving truth and realness in its story than any Marvel film has before. Fully embracing its Blackness, the film smartly toes the line between history and fantasy.
David F. Walker’s review of BlacKkKlansman highlighted the complexities of both this particular movie and director Spike Lee’s greater filmography:
It’s difficult to know what to make of Lee’s latest joint—a fact that positions BlacKkKlansman almost perfectly within the filmmaker’s larger oeuvre. Few directors with as many films to their name as Lee have such an incredible body of work that is both brilliant and eye-rollingly annoying, often in the same movie. And while BlacKkKlansman never hits the rocky depths of Lee’s more troubled or narratively uneven films, it also falls short of the inspired artistry that defines the director’s best work.
Mo Troper’s review of Bohemian Rhapsody praised Rami Malek’s performance as Freddie Mercury and… uh, not much else:
When Bohemian Rhapsody focuses on Freddie Mercury—as it damn well should—it soars. Mr. Robot‘s Rami Malek nails both Mercury’s flamboyant stage persona and his off-stage idiosyncrasies, which is no small accomplishment.
Ned Lannamann’s review of The Favourite listed many of the things that have delighted taste-maker cinéastes across the globe:
The Favourite has a little something for everyone. Palace intrigue! Double crosses! Fancy clothes! Scathing social satire! History, sort of! Gunplay! Handjobs! Mud baths! Silly dancing! Animal cruelty! A bewigged but otherwise nude man being pelted with pomegranates in slow motion!
Ned’s review of Green Book characterized the film as exactly the kind of shallow, bland drama that tends to do very well at the Oscars:
A lot of people are going to like Green Book. It’s a good holiday movie, ideally suited for seeing with family members who might need a little prodding to be open minded; it makes its obvious case for tolerance and friendship, then bows and leaves. Sure, it’s got some substantial problems, and it elides a lot of racial issues and nuances in order to sell a feel-good story. It probably wouldn’t have flown in the Obama era. But in the Trump era? Maybe we should take what we can get.
Ciara Dolan’s review of A Star Is Born cut right through allllllll that retread’s sludgy piles of bullshit:
I’d hoped this new version of A Star Is Born would somehow challenge the destructive narrative that a woman is worthless until a man deems her worthy of love, validation, success, or fame. Hahah, nope!
In my review of Roma, I did my damnedest to convince you to see the remarkable drama in a theater:
Roma is being distributed by Netflix, and the only way most will be able to see it is by streaming it at home. But by the time its end credits roll, it’s clear Roma is about as powerful a cinematic experience as one can have.
And finally, Ned’s review of Vice pretty much hit the nail on the head:
A damning, decades-spanning portrait of former Vice President Dick Cheney, Vice is a far cry from the genial comedies McKay used to make, like Anchorman and Step Brothers. Instead, it’s an angry, messy, overbearing, and frequently brilliant film—one that’s indulgent in ways that are simultaneously admirable and irritating.
Meanwhile, here at Mercury HQ we put together a list of our favorite movies from last year: Annihilation; First Reformed; Love, Simon; The Sisters Brothers; Suspriria; and You Were Never Really Here. Read more about them—and why they were our faves—here.
