My favorite day of the year is back again -- it's the Superbowl of Cinema, the March Madness of Movies, the Thanksgiving of Theater...it's Oscar Sunday!
Everyone in my house has been sick off and on for the past month so I'm not up to my usual shenanigans and didn't have it me to host anything or plan an elaborately themed meal.
But.... I'm congenitally unable to resist a food theme, so I'm having a few things in honor of my personal favorites among the Best Pic category:
- Anatomy of a Fall - fondue (ok, the pre-packaged fondue blend from Aldi)
- Barbie - sparkling rose
- The Holdovers - cherries jubilee
I'm also making black-tie baked spaghetti, which is my take on Millionaire's spaghetti because I'm watching the Oscars with my kids and it's generally frowned upon to serve teens a meal of wine, melted cheese and cherries. Plus, not to give anything away, but there's a pivotal scene in one of the nominated films in which the main character stops in the middle of a vicious fight with her husband to compliment the pasta. Linguine, j'accuse!
As of last night, I finished watching all the best pic nominees. I'm not going to attempt to review of all of them, mostly because I *may* have fallen asleep during a few scenes. But I will share my rambling highlights from the ones that stood out most to me.
- Best Picture - I know Oppenheimer is the favorite, but I'd go with The Zone of Interest. In a category with several movies about major historical/humans-being -awful events, to me this was the strongest & most haunting.
- Most Enjoyable - The Holdovers. It's hard to go wrong with Paul Giamatti, plus Da'Vine Joy Randolph was fantastic & I am a sucker for a food scene. I almost made an entire holiday meal today just so I could say, "family style, out of the oven, all the trimmings," but then I remembered I actually want to watch the Oscars, not carve a ham.
- Best legal/psychological drama AND best performance by a dog - Anatomy of a Fall. Loved the plot, the acting - and the scenery wasn't too shabby, either. This movie kept me guessing the whole time. Also, this was one where I re-watched the second half of this movie the next night, just to see some of the scenes again. IMHO, it would have been better had they trimmed off about 30 minutes, but c'est la vie.
Best Movie about an American Icon - Barbie. I almost never go to the actual movie theater (because time + kids + money = streaming) but this was a "put on your pink and spring for the overpriced ticket" experience. Greta Gerwig did not disappoint, it was a fantastic production, loved all the shout-outs to Barbies past (how did Kate McKinnon know that was the exact same haircut I gave my weird Barbie?) & more meaningful than I might have expected.
Best Movie to Answer the Question - what if Wes Anderson & Tim Burton Made Porn - Poor Things. I feel like this was a movie you either hated or loved, and I guess it was the money shots of brain matter that put me in the former camp. But, hey, not everything is for everybody. Also, I will say nice set design.
Best Acting - Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon. She kept the momentum going for three-and-a-half hours and I don't know how anyone does that. She was able to convey moments of extreme strength and moments of extreme sickness and then come full circle. There were a lot of great acting performances, but to me, hers stood out the most.
Best docu-short - I would have loved to see The ABCs of Book Banning, but I don't have Paramount Plus. So my pick based on the two that I saw would be The Last Repair Shop. Just an incredible slice of life kind of movie. And a good reminder of how music changes people's lives. Bonus shout out to Nai Nai and Wai Po, which was also really good.
Best Cameo Performance by a Shark - Nyad. Annette Bening and Jodie Foster were no slouches in this film, either. Also what a crazy impressive story. I mean, I love swimming, but not if it requires a shark tank. Stories of perseverance against the odds are not uncommon movie themes, but you don't usually see stories like that for women of a certain age. A good reminder that it ain't over till it's over, whether you're fighting against your demons or for your dreams.
Speaking of which, my dream is to one day see an actual red carpet - but in the meantime, E! awaits.
Happy Oscar watching - and may the odds and the awards be ever in your favor!
