Another category in which I've seen all the movies! You'll be getting the full review with this one and this category contains a lot of my favorite movies of this year, so it's going to be tough.
5. Maestro
I'm pretty sure I mentioned this in previous reviews, but the story took a hot minute to find its footing. It wasn't until about half way through that I was pretty sure what the main conflict was going to be. Which is a big deal. As good as some of the individual scenes were, taking that much time to figure out the story does not bode well for the script. Having said that, a lot of the dialog was very well written and once it did find its footing, it was a good story. But even the good parts didn't wow me. So yeah, we're putting this at the bottom of the list.
4. The Holdovers
This group is tough. It's hard to pick the bottom picks because so many of these stories were so good. But I'm putting The Holdovers at number 4. The story arch and the overall script were excellent. Smooth, organized, and extremely thoughtful. At times, I felt it was a little spoon-fed and predictable, but it wasn't exactly sold as a genre-defining movie. But there were a lot of raw moment that were well-written and the whole story was very satisfying. Not the most top-tier movie in terms of the Oscars, but certainly more high-brow than your average family movie.
3. Anatomy of a Fall
I think I've mentioned this before, but the beauty of Anatomy of a Fall is its subtlety. It doesn't oversell any scene and explores the intricacies of the trial in a respectful and thoughtful way. I do think the actors carried this story slightly more than the script, but of course, the foundation has to be there for the actors to work off of. The overall organization was clean and there were a lot of great one-off moments that explored the complexities of the case. It was definitely a wonderful script, just not the top.
2. Past Lives
I'm calling it, I think Past Lives is taking the Oscar. And honestly, well deserved. It's such a beautiful love story and exploration of the human condition. And the way in which there's essential no antagonist makes this story both incredibly complex and so real. No one's the bad guy, it's just people living their lives. Everyone matters and everyone learns something, and it's poignant and satisfying. It's incredibly well written, and I think if it does win, it's much deserved.
1. May December
And the Unhelpful Reviews Oscar goes to!
But this one's my favorite! I loved this movie. Honestly, May December deserved the nominations that Barbie got. It was certainly hilarious and the shenanigans between Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman were phenomenal. But I thought the ways in which they approached the seriousness of the relationship expertly toed the line between making light of things that are appropriate to make light of and being serious when it was important. There was a lot about Charles Melton's story that was taken seriously, and I think that was important. It was the kind of story that explores those gray areas and yet still makes a pretty significant statement. He obviously decided to stay with Julianne Moore, but watching Charles Melton start to fully realize the ways in which he was taken advantage of were so complex and kind of hard to watch, but in a good way. I thought this story toed those lines expertly and it's the kind of story that I think many other writers struggle to writers.
We're dropping one more review before the Oscars, but let me know who you think is taking home the screenplay awards!
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