As the case for most Oscar Nights, I skip the show and pull up a list of winners after its all over. It takes me about a minute to read them and go on with my life.
This year, however, there were a few winners that were actually really good films. If you haven’t gotten a chance to see these
Godzilla Minus One (Best Visual Effects)
Beating out some CGI-heavy films with much bigger budgets, Toho Studio’s 33rd Godzilla film is still showing everyone how it’s done, and Godzilla Minus One is incredibly awesome.
The Boy and the Heron (Best Animated Feature Film)
After ten years Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki gave another Studio Ghibli movie to enjoy on the big screen. I’m a bit biased here, but I love Studio Ghibli. This isn’t the best Ghibli I’ve seen, but it is the best of the nominees bunch (What the heck was Elemental doing up there?) This was supposed to be Miyazaki’s final project, but you can’t keep a great imagination down and he is apparently still working on new ideas. If you can still catch this one in the theatres, do it.
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Best Live Action Short Film)
In full Wes Anderson form, this is a highly stylized and weirdly fun story of a man who gains an ability to cheat at cards. It’s based on a Roald Dahl story, so you know it’s going to be exaggerated, quirky and filled with scenery chewing acting from the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch and everyone else involved.It’s part of a short film anthology of Dahl tales and I recommend checking all of them out.
Oppenheimer (Best Picture)
Yes, I’m recommending the Best Picture Winner. It’s a good, solid gorgeously done movie by director Christopher Nolan, and both Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. deserved their acting wins for it. It picked up several other Oscars as well. Sure, it’s a bit long and there is a, well, uncomfortable sex scene that doesn’t seem to fit, but Nolan did a tremendous job with this one.
The Academy Awards in themselves may be a bloated fest of obnoxious opulence, but when a film is good a film is good.That’s not always the case with Oscar winners these days.