The Choice for Best Picture
On the Best Picture race, and in Praise of Popular Opinion.
While I have not seen every picture likely to be nominated for Best Picture this year (yet), I have seen most of them. From what I have gathered from early awards ceremonies, the general mood and the praise of many famous Hollywood filmmakers, the movie “Tar” is the cinematic favorite for Best Picture.
I wholeheartedly disagree.
To me there is only one film of the past year that truly deserves the Best Picture, one that was innovative, expertly crafted, perfectly acted, funny, thoughtful, iconic, surprising and most importantly, enjoyable.
Everything, Everywhere All at Once is the Best Picture of the Year.
The first time I saw this film when it was released way back in April, I knew absolutely nothing about this film going in, other than it was widely praised. On a slow Sunday afternoon, I went to my local (dying) AMC theatre, bought some popcorn, and settled in for the matinee.
Despite being available on streaming for months now, I will not spoil anything about this film. But I will tell you what my thoughts were when seeing it. In order:
OK, what is this? Where is this going?
I don’t get it. Seems kind of dull.
OK, now that is just plain dumb.
Hmm….now that changes things. Interesting.
…damn that’s funny. (repeat about a dozen times)
…and clever.
That just blew my mind.
Oh my God, this is genius.
This may be the best movie I’ve seen in the last 10 years.
I need to see this again.
Simply put, no other film in memory has even attempted to entertain audiences to this extent and with this much thought, empathy, philosophy, and joy wrapped in. The mere fact that it not only drew in audiences to theaters at a slow time of year, but encouraged repeat viewings and spending money on concessions might have single handedly help save the theater industry (well, that and Tom Cruise, but we’ll get to him in a moment).
Unlike most film critics, Roger Ebert believed popular films could be just as cinematically prestigious as arthouse fare. Like a lot of critics he would have equally loved Top Gun: Maverick, another movie that saved the theater experience last year. It was hugely entertaining, and seeing it with a crowd of 40 an 50-somethings was a great experience you can ONLY get in a theater. It was innovative in the sense that the filmmaking and cinematography put you right in the middle of the action, experiencing what those pilots were feeling when they hit 7Gs. But was the story anything new? No, in fact, it followed the same formula and paces as the original 35 years ago. Though Cruise looks like he hasn’t aged a day, the film is at its core a retread. Now, EEAAO is arthouse fare that crossed over into mainstream popularity. However, EEAAO is a completely (and I mean COMPLETELY) original film. And the crowd I was with inside that cineplex were as loud as the crowd in summer watching Top Gun: Maverick, laughing themselves silly.
The two other “prestige” pictures that being bandied about for Best Picture are Tar and The Banshees of Inisherin.
Both are expertly crafted cinematic films that are perfectly cast, directed and made. There’s a mastery of filmmaking in both films. They are in essence character studies. Neither are particularly enjoyable. They’re the kind of movies you come out of and say, “Wow, I’m glad I saw that, but I wouldn’t want to ever see it again.” Banshees was promoted at the Golden Globes in the Best Comedy category; there’s nothing funny about it other than Colin Ferrell’s perplexity as to why others find him so unlikeable. It’s a melancholic film about the death of friendships.
Tar on the other hand is a film about hubris; as good as Cate Blanchett is I found myself cheering her downfall as a check on her arrogance. She’s completely watchable and mesmerizing but you root for a comeuppance because she’s just so unlikeable as a character.
Both of these films are worth seeing, particularly the more you consider film as a form of art. But honestly, these films are going to be forgotten within a year, because wide audiences simply find no love or joy in either of them. To prove my point, last year’s Best Picture nominees included Nightmare Alley, Drive my Car, Don’t Look Up, and The Power of the Dog all practically forgotten a year later. King Richard would’ve joined that list had Will Smith not hit Chris Rock upside the head. Are all those films good/great? Absolutely. Is there anything about them memorable or inspiring to you to watch them again? Nope.
And that is what I worry about. The Academy has a habit of pushing the artiest, trendiest, most recent select movie as Best Picture. They don’t choose popular fare, that would be passe. Not to mention, movies from last spring are played out already and usually don’t generate more money, whereas one released in December can still get a financial bump from winning. Last year CODA won (how many of you remembered that?). It’s a lovely movie, hardly even seen prior to the victory; it made more money in the one week after its win than in it’s entire release before it. The year before it was Nomadland, a film that looking back was one of the least enjoyable of the nominees that year. In 2020, in a year when such excellent fare as Jojo Rabbit, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, 1917, Joker and Ford v. Ferrari were also nominated, they went with Parasite (a great film and worthy of the prize, but ask anyone if they have seen it since then). It’s the reason Moonlight beat La La Land, Shakespeare in Love beat Saving Private Ryan and The Shape of Water beat Get Out. You’d have to go back to 2013 when the Oscar winner was also an enjoyable crowdpleaser (Argo). The irony is that looking at what else was nominated that year (Zero Dark Thirty, Lincoln, Django Unchained, Life of Pi, Les Miserables) the Academy may have chosen the least worthy option that year.
Everything, Everywhere All at Once is a treasure that has and will stand the test of time. It deserves the Best Picture award.
Parting Thoughts
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